Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-17-2024

Abstract

Nowadays, the depletion of bio-based resources has become an important issue all over the globe. Traditional methods are dependent more on petroleum-based derivatives compared to bio-based materials. In such a scenario, researchers are moving toward replacing fossil fuels with sustainable, biobased resources. Petrochemicals have significant advantages but after use of such kinds of materials shows environmental impact, which cannot be ignored. In addition, these are the non-renewable energy resources, which will be depleted soon. The use of plant-based raw materials is increasing. One of the resources is vegetable oils, which are used as a raw material for renewable polymer synthesis. Nevertheless, these resources face competition from traditional petrol-based monomers. Hence, new research focuses on making eco-friendly foams to replace isocyanate-based polyurethane foams. Aza-Michael reactions were used first to form soft foams, using acrylate soybean oils and biobased amines, with an original chemical blowing system. The properties of the foams have been studied to explore the influence of different structures, such as glass transition, hardness, deformation, etc. The study found homogeneous open-cell foams with a pore size from 0.1 to 0.5 mm were obtained. Flexible foams were obtained with glass transition from −20 to −7 °C. These soft foams recover within seconds and exhibit similar properties to equivalent commercial fossil-polyurethane foams, without the use of highly hazardous chemicals.

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