Utilization of Polyurethane Foam Dust in Development of Thermal Insulation Composite

The massive production of Polyurethane foam from various products generates an extensive amount of waste, mostly in the form of dust that is emitted while cutting, trimming, or grinding the foam. In this research, the polyurethane dust (PUD) waste is incorporated into unsaturated polyester resin (UPR) to fabricate a heat insulation composite material to be used in construction. Filler percentages ranging from 10% to 50% were used to make the UPR-PUD composite materials. The thermal and mechanical properties of the material were studied in order to evaluate the ability of the composites for this type of application. Thermogravimetric Analysis and Differential Scanning Calorimeter tests were applied to determine the thermal stability of the material. In addition, the microstructure of the prepared composites and the incorporation of PUD filler into the polyester matrix were investigated by Scanning Electron Microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis. The FTIR and XRD analyses suggested that adding PUD improved the curing process of unsaturated polyester and enhanced its crystalline structure. The experimental results showed promising thermal insulation capability, with low thermal conductivity in the range of 0.076 to 0.10 W/m·K and low water retention. Moreover, the composites exhibited compression strength between 56 and 100 MPa and tensile strength between 10.3 and 28 MPa, much higher than traditional thermal insulators and many building materials.