Description
Polyurethane (PUR) foams find application as an insulating material inbuildings, furniture, and transportation. Due to its high flammability and fast spread
of flame during a fire, there is an emphasis on studying the thermal degradation of
PUR, including the study of the production of volatile gases that fuel combustion
[1].
One of the objectives of this work is to get a detailed understanding of the
thermal degradation of PUR and PUR-derived products, like foams, and their
degradation kinetics, aiming at making the relationship between the thermal
degradation kinetics of PUR and its monomer polyols. Studying degradation
mechanisms and developing composition-based thermal degradation kinetic models
will facilitate predicting the degradation behaviour of PUR of different compositions
under a range of conditions.
The degradation kinetics of PUR and its polyols and the degradation products
formed, including residues or char and evolved gases, are studied in detail using
TGA and spectroscopic techniques. TGA studies performed on polyether-based PUR
foams and its constituting monomer polyether polyols revealed relations between
their degradation paths. These findings are further supported by Hi-Res™ TGA
experiments, which separated the degradation steps more clearly. TGA-MS is used
for simultaneous evolved gas analysis and FTIR spectroscopy is used for the analysis
of residues at different instances in the degradation process. Such relations between
the chemical composition and structure of the PUR and the resulting thermal
degradation behaviour can be employed to judiciously tune the material properties.
Thermal data, obtained in TGA under different atmospheres and for different
temperature programs, were kinetically analysed by applying model-free kinetics
(MFK), providing information for the development of a more comprehensive
degradation kinetics model [2].
| Period | 29 Aug 2021 → 2 Sep 2021 |
|---|---|
| Event title | ICTAC 2020 17th International Congress on Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry: 8th Joint Czech-Hungarian-Polish-Slovakian Thermoanalytical Conference (V4 8) and 14th Conference on Calorimetry and Thermal Analysis of the Polish Society of Calorimetry and Thermal Analysis (CCTA 14) |
| Event type | Conference |
| Degree of Recognition | International |