A Study on the carbon nanotube addition on the properties of rigid polyurethane foam synthesized from caster oil

This research investigated the effects of adding carbon nanotubes to rigid polyurethane foam synthesized from polyol obtained from castor oil. The castor oil was modified to achieve suitable properties for foam formation through a transesterification reaction with triethanolamine before reacting it with polymethylene polyphenyl isocyanate (PMDI). The study examined the impact of carbon nanotubes on the foam properties.

The experiments revealed that increasing the carbon nanotube content from 0.1 to 0.4 %wt reduced the average cell size of the foam and increased its density. Additionally, foams with added carbon nanotubes exhibited increased compressive strength, with a maximum value of 0.5113 MPa, while thermal conductivity remained in the range of 0.040-0.041 W/m•K.

However, incorporating carbon nanotubes into the rigid polyurethane foam synthesized from castor oil decreased its biodegradability through a hydrolysis reaction.