New polyurethane foams modified with cellulose derivatives

New polyurethane foams were elaborated with different cellulose derivatives as raw material, by the one-shot process. The foams were submitted to soxhlet extraction in order to quantify the amount of cellulose derivative incorporated in the foam by chemical bonding. The foams were characterized by means of FTIR, solid state ¹³C NMR spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, scanning electron microscopy and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). The FTIR- and solid state ¹³C NMR showed characteristic peaks for cellulose derivatives and polyurethane. DMA measurements indicated that storage modulus increased with increasing content of cellulose derivatives. The highest value was obtained for foams prepared with cellulose sulphate.