Flammability of Bio-Based Rigid Polyurethane Foam as Sustainable Thermal Insulation Material

One of the biggest disadvantages of rigid polyurethane foams is its low thermal resistance, high flammability, and high smoke production when burning. Greatest advantage of this thermal insulation material is its low thermal conductivity, which at 20–25 mW/(m·K) is superior to other commercially available insulation materials. In recent years polyurethane materials from renewable resources have been widely studied. But their use on industrial scale was limited due to inconstant performance and relatively high price of raw materials. Different bio-based raw materials, such as rapeseed oil and tall oil, could provide abundant feedstock for PU foam production. Decrease of flammability of PU materials conventionally is achieved by addition of flame retardants, halogen-containing compounds, and phosphates. It can be considered that halogenated fire retardants could have several health hazards, such as volatile compound emission from materials and toxic gas release during burning process. Expandable graphite could be an answer to this flammability problem. This chapter describes development of bio-based rigid polyurethane foams and their flammability reduction using sustainable flame retardants. Different expandable graphite intumescent flame retardants provided significant flammability reduction while maintaining low thermal conductivity of insulation materials

A Concrete and Viable Example of Multimaterial Body: The Evolution Project Main Outcomes

Funded by the EC FP7 Programme, EVolution project demonstrated that it is possible to consistently reduce the vehicle weight through the wide use of new materials and process technologies, mainly by developing a multi-material Body-in-White. This paper focuses on three of the five structural body demonstrators, the main objective of the framework, strongly hybridized with aluminum and thermoplastic composite materials, specifically developed and manufactured through innovative technologies. Directing in particular the analysis on medium production volumes (> 30,000 units/year), the industrial viability is evaluated in terms of TAKT time, lightweighting costs, weight reduction and structural performances achieved.The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement no. 314744

Evolution FP7 funded project: body structure design strategies using new composite and aluminium materials and enabled technologies

Based on Pininfarina Nido EV concept, EVolution aims to reduce the vehicle weight through new materials and process technologies, focused on five demonstrators: underbody, front crossbeam, mechanical subframe, shotgun system and door. This paper refers to body structure design strategies using new composite, Al materials and enabled technologies, focusing in particular on demonstrators design and manufacturing. The new front crossbeam geometry of the front shell is adapted starting from the Nanotough design, while the rear shell is specific for EVolution. The subframe demonstrator is redesigned to fulfil mechanical requirements of the part and manufacturing feasibility either. The EVolution door concept consists of two semistructural composite skins including a structural Al frame. The underbody is conceived through an integrated approach, optimising each element for its function. The shotgun component is designed to link parts obtained with different manufacturing technologies and several aluminium alloys in one single component: the structural node demonstrator.The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement no. 314744

Reinforcement Efficiency of Cellulose Microfibers for the Tensile Stiffness and Strength of Rigid Low-Density Polyurethane Foams

Rigid low-density closed-cell polyurethane (PU) foams are widely used in both thermal insulation and structural applications. The sustainability of PU foam production can be increased by using bio-based components and fillers that ensure both enhanced mechanical properties and higher renewable material content. Such bio-based foams were produced using polyols derived from rapeseed oil and microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) fibers as filler. The effect of MCC fiber loading of up to 10 wt % on the morphology, tensile stiffness, and strength of foams has been evaluated. For estimation of the mechanical reinforcement efficiency of foams, a model allowing for the partial alignment of filler fibers in foam struts was developed and validated against test results. It is shown that although applying MCC fibers leads to modest gains in the mechanical properties of PU foams compared with cellulose nanocrystal reinforcement, it may provide a higher content of renewable material in the foams

A Review of Wood Biomass-Based Fatty Acids and Rosin Acids Use in Polymeric Materials

In recent decades, vegetable oils as a potential replacement for petrochemical materials have been extensively studied. Tall oil (crude tall oil, distilled tall oil, tall oil fatty acids, and rosin acids) is a good source to be turned into polymeric materials. Unlike vegetable oils, tall oil is considered as lignocellulosic plant biomass waste and is considered to be the second-generation raw material, thus it is not competing with the food and feed chain. The main purpose of this review article is to identify in what kind of polymeric materials wood biomass-based fatty acids and rosin acids have been applied and their impact on the properties

Sztywne pianki poliuretanowe na bazie oleju talowego napełnione nanofibrylarną celulozą

Two types of biopolyols based on tall oil were used for the preparation of rigid polyurethane (PUR) foams. High functionality biopolyol was synthesized from tall oil fatty acids by epoxidation and subsequent oxirane ring-opening with trimethylolpropane and tall oil esterification with triethanolamine was carried out to obtain low viscosity biopolyol. The optimal dispergation method with sonication was applied to obtain rigid PUR foams with 0–1.5 wt % of nanofibrillated cellulose. The influence of nanofibrillated cellulose content on the rigid PUR foams’ closed-cell content, density, thermal conductivity, compression strength, and compression modulus was evaluated. Addition of NFC fiber into rigid PUR foam structure slightly increased compression strength and Young’s modulus.Do przygotowania sztywnych pianek poliuretanowych (PUR) napełnionych nanofibrylarną celulozą (NFC) użyto dwa rodzaje biopolioli na bazie oleju talowego. Poliol o dużej funkcyjności syntetyzowano metodą epoksydacji i otwarcia pierścieni oksiranowych trimetylolopropanem, natomiast poliol o małej funkcyjności otrzymano metodą estryfikacji oleju talowego trietanoloaminą. W celu uzyskania równomiernej dyspersji nanofibrylarnej celulozy w sztywnych piankach wykorzystano metodę sonikacji. Zawartość napełniacza wynosiła 0–1.5% mas. Analizowano wpływ dodatku nanofibrylarnej celulozy na zawartość komórek zamkniętych, gęstość, przewodność cieplną, wytrzymałość na ściskanie oraz moduł Younga wytworzonych pianek PUR. Stwierdzono że dodatek NFC powoduje nieznaczne zwiększenie wytrzymałości na ściskanie oraz modułu Younga pianek

Lignin polyol in production of oil based polyurethane elastomers and rigid foams

Nowadays, due to economical and environmental concerns, polyurethane (PU) elastomer and rigid foam industry seeks ways to replace petrochemical polyols by renewable biomass. The aim of this study was to investigate lignin as a co-polyol in a solvent free production of castor oil based PU elastomers and tall oil amide based rigid PU foams. Lignin content correlation influence on PU elastomers and PU rigid foam physical-mechanical and morphological parameters were determinate