Improvement of Flexible Polyurethane Foam Characteristics of Palm Oil Polyols with the Addition Of Polyethylene Glycol-400

Abstract

Palm oil polyol-based foams have inflexible and brittle properties. Palm oil polyols have a lower molecular weight. Polyols with a high molecular weight and a primary OH group, such as polyethylene glycol (PEG)-400, can provide the flexible properties of polyurethane foam. This study aimed to examine the optimum concentration of PEG-400, which can produce flexible polyurethane foam made from palm oil polyols with the best characteristics based on mechanical properties. This study compared palm oil polyol and PEG-400 treatment of 80%:20%, 70%:30%, 60%:40%, 50%:50%. Flexible polyurethane foam was characterized, including FTIR analysis, SEM, tensile strength, yield strength, elongation at break, and TGA. The results showed that the use of PEG-400 at an optimum concentration of 40% resulted in flexible polyurethane foam with a greater number of open cells and increased flexible properties but decreased the value of tensile strength and yield strength, as well as decreased the foam's stability to heat. However, tensile strength and elongation at break of PEG-based palm oil polyurethane obtained from this study followed the flexible polyurethane foam requirements.