Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-17-2024

Abstract

Waste cooking oil (WCO), obtained from cooking or frying food, poses a serious environmental risk when disposed of inappropriately. Therefore, finding ways to repurpose WCO into valuable products is important to mitigate environmental impact and health risks. This work focuses on utilizing used canola oil (UCO) to produce rigid polyurethane foams (RPUFs) as a sustainable approach to waste management and resource utilization. An epoxidation and ring-opening of UCO was employed to produce UCO-polyol for synthesizing RPUFs. Qualitative experiments such as epoxy, iodine, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and hydroxyl studies were carried out to evaluate the quality of UCO and UCO-based polyol, which were compared with new canola oil (NCO)-based polyol. Flame retardancy was improved by incorporating two flame retardants: dimethyl methyl phosphonate (DMMP) and expandable graphite (EG). The burning time of DMMP-contained foam was reduced from 54.95 s to 8.3 seconds, with weight loss from 55.25% to 12.10%. EG-treated foam also showed improvements in flame retardancy, with burning time reduced to 16.5 seconds and weight loss to 5.86%. The closed-cell content, an important factor for foam insulation applications, was around 90% of all the foams. Overall, the research demonstrates the feasibility and benefits of repurposing waste cooking oil to produce polyurethane foams, highlighting its potential for addressing environmental concerns and creating value from waste materials.

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