Biodegradable Polyurethanes from Plant Components |
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| Authors: | Hyoe Hatakeyama Shigeo Hirose Tatsuko Hatakeyama Kunio Nakamura Ken Kobashigawa Noriyuki Morohoshi |
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| Affiliation: | 1. National Institute of Materials and Chemical Research , 1-1, Higashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305, Japan;2. Otsuma Women's University , Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 102, Japan;3. Tropical Technology Center Ltd. Gushikawa , Okinawa, 904-22, Japan;4. Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology Fuchu , Tokyo, 183, Japan |
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| Abstract: | Abstract Polyurethane (PU) sheets and foams having plant components in their network were prepared by using the following procedure. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) was mixed with one of the following; molasses, lignin, woodmeal, or coffee grounds. The mixture obtained was reacted with diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI) at room temperature, and precured PUs were prepared. The precured PUs were heat-pressed and PU sheets were obtained. In order to make PU foam, the above mixture was reacted with MDI after the addition of plasticizer, surfactant (silicone oil), catalyst (di-n-butyltin dilaurate), and droplets of water under vigorous stirring. The glass transition temperature, tensile and compression strengths, and Young's modulus of the PU sheets and foams increased with an increasing amount of plant components. This suggests that saccharide and lignin residues act as hard segments in PUs. It was found that the PUs obtained were biodegradable in soil. The rate of biodegradation of the PUs derived from molasses and coffee grounds was between that of cryptomeria (Cryptomeria japonica) and beech (Fagus sieboldi). |
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