Date of Award
Spring 5-14-2022
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Chemistry
First Advisor
Dr. Ram K. Gupta
Second Advisor
Timothy Dawsey
Third Advisor
Dr. Charles Neef
Fourth Advisor
Dr. John Franklin
Keywords
polymer, rigid polyurethane, bio-based, rigid polyurethane foam, vegetable oil polyol, thermal stability
Abstract
Rigid polyurethane foams (RPUF), heavily utilized in construction, refrigeration, and the automotive industries, are a significant class of polyurethanes. They can substantially enhance energy efficiency by improving thermal insulation. However, the application of petrochemical sources in polyurethane has raised environmental concerns.
Such concerns call for the development and application of new bio-based polyurethanes to potentially reduce humanity's over-reliance on nonrenewable sources.
In this work, corn oil-based polyol was synthesized via popularized thiol-ene reaction. The obtained polyol was characterized by wet chemistry methods, spectroscopic evaluations, and chromatography. Non-halogenated flame retardants of cost-effective and environmentally friendly nature were incorporated into the polyurethane foams to improve their applicability. These flame-retardants, aluminum hypophosphite (AHP), expandable graphite (EG), and melamine phosphate (MP), provided rigid polyurethane foams with resistance to ignitions, as RPUFS are otherwise intrinsically flammable. Experimentally, physicomechanical and flammability properties of polyurethane foams were evaluated.
All the polyurethane foams with flame-retardants showcased improved fire safety. In polyurethane foams with AHP, weight loss percent reduced to a mere 3% from 48%, reducing the burning time from 82 seconds to 7 seconds. In polyurethane foams with EG, the weight loss percentage was reduced to 3% from 48% and reduced burning time from 82 seconds to 18 seconds.
Lastly, a reduction in burning time was observed in polyurethane foams with MP. Polyurethane foam without MP recorded a burning time of 82 seconds, and with an optimum amount of MP recorded a burning time of 37 seconds. Such findings prove that flame-safe renewable polyurethane foams are promising for industrial applications and further developments.
Recommended Citation
Ingsel, Tenzin, "One-Step Synthesis of Corn Oil-Based Polyol for Highly Flame-Retardant Rigid Polyurethane Foams" (2022). Electronic Theses & Dissertations. 722.
https://digitalcommons.pittstate.edu/etd/722
