Advances in Low-Density Flexible Polyurethane Foams by Optimized Incorporation of High Amount of Recycled Polyol

An industrially manufactured recycled polyol, obtained by acidolysis process, was for the first time proved to be a possible replacement of the reference fossil-based polyol in a low-density formulation suitable for industrial production of flexible polyurethane foams. The influence of increasing recycled polyol amounts on the properties of the polyurethane foam has been studied, also performing foam emission tests to evaluate the environmental impact. Using 10 pbw recycled polyol in the standard formulation, significant differences of the physical properties were not observed, but increase of the recycled polyol amount to 30 pbw led to a dramatic decrease of the foam air flow and a very tight foam. To overcome this drawback, N,N′-bis[3-(dimethylamino)propyl]urea was selected as tertiary amine catalyst, enabling the preservation of foam properties even at high recycled polyol level (30 pbw). Foam emission data demonstrated that this optimized foam formulation also led to an important reduction of volatile organic compounds. The results open the way for further optimization studies in low-density flexible polyurethane foam formulations, to increase the reutilization of the polyurethane waste and reduce the amount of petroleum-based raw materials.