Preparation of Semirigid Polyurethane Foam with Liquefied Bamboo Residues

Bamboo residues were liquefied by using a solvent mixture consisting of polyethylene glycol 400 and crude glycerol (4/1, w/w) with 98% sulfuric acid as catalyst at 160 degrees C for 120 min. The liquefied bamboo had hydroxyl values from 178 to 200 mg KOH/g and viscosities from 507 to 2201 mPa S. The obtained bamboo-based polyols were reacted with various amounts of polyaryl polymethylene isocyanate (PAPI), using distilled water as blowing agent, silicone as surfactant, and triethylenediamine and dibutyltine dilaurate as cocatalyst to produce semirigid polyurethane (PU) foams. The [NCO]/[OH] ratio was found to be an important factor to control the mechanical properties of PU foams. At a fixed [NCO]/[OH] ratio, both density and compressive strength of PU foams decreased with the increase of bamboo content. The microstructure of PU foams indicates that [NCO]/[OH] ratios are important for cell formation and chemical reactions. The uniformity and cell structure of the foams are comparable to their corresponding compressive strengths. Moreover, the thermogravimetry analysis showed that all the semirigid PU foams had approximately the same degradation temperature of about 250 to 440 degrees C. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 116: 1694-1699, 2010