High bio-content polyurethane (PU) foam made from bio-polyol and cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) via microwave liquefaction

In this work, both the bio-polyol and cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) used to produce high bio-content polyurethane (PU) foams were prepared from microwave liquefaction of rape straw. As high as 40% petro-based polyol was replaced by bio-polyol and the bio-foams containing 40% bio-polyol (PU40) were further reinforced by incorporating 1 to 6% CNCs. GC-MS, H-1 NMR and FTIR observations demonstrated that the bio-polyol is a hydroxyl-rich source consisting of C5, C6 sugars and aromatics. The maximum physico-mechanical performance of bio-foam without CNCs was observed from the bio-foam containing 20% bio-polyol. When further increasing bio-polyol content from 20 to 40%, these properties dramatically decreased. This result was possibly due to the complex polyurethane crosslinking reactions with C5, C6 sugars and aromatics. As compared with reference (PU40), the Young's modulus and compressive stress in the optimal 4% CNCs reinforced bio-foam increased by 590% and 150%, respectively. It was noteworthy that these values were highly superior to those of the petro-based foam. Solid state C-13 NMR and FTIR analysis of CNC reinforced bio-foam evidenced that the hydroxyl-rich structure in CNCs participated in the cross-linking reactions, resulting in an increase of the polyurethane crosslinking density, which contributes to the increased physico-mechanical performance of bio-foam. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.