The effect of various rapeseed oil-based polyols on selected properties of flexible polyurethane foams

Bio-polyols based on rapeseed oil were used to produce flexible polyurethane foams (FPURF). The bio-polyols were obtained on a laboratory and industrial scale with the two-step method involving epoxidation of double bonds in rapeseed oil and opening of oxirane rings with different alcohols, such as isopropanol (iP) and diethylene glycol (DEG). The impact of bio-polyols production scale on selected physical and mechanical properties of FPURF was analyzed. The applied bio-polyols differed slightly by hydroxyl number, functionality, and water content. It was found that the scale of bio-polyol production has no significant impact on FPURF properties such as apparent density, hardness, hysteresis, support factor, and resilience. However, it was observed, that the addition of the bio-polyol to polyurethane (PUR) formulation had the impact on the FPURF properties as compared to the reference foams that were not modified with the bio-polyols. Moreover, a continuous method was used to prepare FPURF samples modified with different rapeseed oil-based polyols. For this purpose mixing-dosing device with conveyor line was used to synthesize the foams. It was found that the replacement of petrochemical polyols with the bio-polyols resulted in lower reactivity of the modified formulations and the amount of catalysts had to be increased. Furthermore, the foams hysteresis, support factor, and hardness were higher, especially for foams modified with the bio-polyol that contained DEG in its structure. Moreover, the fatigue tests were performed and the results showed a beneficial effect of the bio-based polyols on the functional properties, a.o. support factor of flexible foams.