Development of Rigid Bio-Nanocomposite Polyurethane Foam for Load Bearing Application: Effect of Surfactant Composition

This paper presents the preliminary work on rigid palm oil-based polyurethane foam reinforced with nanoclay for load bearing purposes. In this work, palm oil-based polyol (POP) was reacted with polymeric 4,4’-diphenylmethane diisocyanate (p-MDI) along with distilled water as the blowing agent, silicone surfactant, and montmorillonite (MMT) clay as filler to produce rigid bio-nanocomposite PU foam. The produced foams are varied by the amount of surfactant used in every foam formulation. The foams are characterized for their morphology and compression strength. The cells inside the bio-nanocomposite foams are indicated to be closed cells. No apparent changes in cell size at higher surfactant content. The compression strengths shows gradual decrease as the surfactant composition increases, while gradual increase in density is observed when nanoclay content is increased, but up to 6 wt. % only. All in all, as indicated by this preliminary finding, rigid palm oil-based nanocomposite PU foam is a promising alternative for its conventional petroleum-based counterpart.