Skip to main content
ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #83691
Title: GLYCOLS IN POLYURETHANE FOAM FORMULATIONS WITH A STARCH-OIL COMPOSITE

Author
item Cunningham, Raymond
item Gordon, Sherald
item Felker, Frederick
item Eskins, Kenneth

Submitted to: Journal of Applied Polymer Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/5/1997
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: The discovery of a cooked blend of starch, fats, and water (Fantesk) that doesn't separate after cooling, freezing, or thawing has a wide range of applications. One of these applications is to incorporate the composite into foam formulations. The composite would enhance foam properties, permit the addition of oil-soluble components, and introduce biodegradability. One of the requirements of making a good foam is adequate blending of the ingredients. When a dry material is used as a major ingredient, a compatible liquid is needed to provide a good slurry for mixing. To use this new composite as a major component in foams, excess water is removed by drum drying the material. Scientists and foam manufacturers will find alcohols to be excellent liquids to blend the ingredients adequately.

Technical Abstract: A dry starch-oil composite was blended with each of three glycols; ethylene, polyethylene, and propylene, and then reacted with isocyanate to produce polyurethane foams. The liquid glycols permitted the dry composite to blend well with the other ingredients in the foam formulations. Infrared spectra confirmed the presence of urethane structures in the composite-glycol foams. Polyethylene glycol provided a slightly less dense foam than the other glycols in the composite-glycol products. Microscopy showed a greater number of larger cells in the composite-polyurethane glycol foams. Infrared spectra indicated essentially no qualitative differences in the composite-glycol foams with the three glycols. By pre-staining starch with toluidene blue and oil with sudan red, the location of the starch and oil components of the milled composite were observed in the composite-propylene glycol foam. Intact flakes of the composite were observed in the foam. An apparent loss of mobility of oil in the composite-polyurethane foam, as evidenced by NMR analysis, is probably due to cross-linking by isocyanate diffusing into the flakes. Both the cell structure and uniformity of blending were improved by using these glycols than polyester polyol described previously.