(730d) Synthesis of Vegetable Oil Derived Polyurethanes

Biobased polyurethanes are desired to replace traditional polyurethanes made from petrochemicals in order to be environmentally friendlier and decrease dependence on nonrenewable fossil energy sources.  Vegetable oils are a suitable renewable starting material for biobased polyurethanes due to their availability and low cost.  Vegetable oils are triglycerides composed of different fatty acid chains which depend on the plant and the growing conditions.  The chemical and physical properties of the oil depend on the fatty acid composition and degree of unsaturation.  In this work, polyols are derived from Cargill’s Agri-Pure Gold 45 and Agri-Pure 85 technical grade vegetable oils through epoxidation of the double bonds followed by ring opening of the epoxide group.  The structure and properties of the polyols are characterized.  Polyurethanes are synthesized by the reaction of these polyols with diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI) at different NCO/OH ratios.  The thermal and mechanical properties of the produced polyurethanes are comparatively analyzed.