Utilization of Palm Olein-Based Polyol for Polyurethane Foam Sponge Synthesis: Potential as a Sorbent Material

Polyol was successfully synthesized from natural palm olein and was used as a starting material for polyurethane foam synthesis. FT-IR spectroscopy was used to confirm of each reaction in the multistep synthesis, including the transesterification, epoxidation, and reaction with ethylene glycol, ultimately producing palm olein-based polyol (POBP) and POBP-containing polyurethane foam. The morphological properties of the prepared foams were investigated by scanning electron microscopy. The foam cells were uniform in size and shape, and a coarse cell structure was observed. While the pristine polyurethane foam contained closed cells, the pore structure became more interconnected with the introduction of POBP. The thermal properties were studied by DSC and TGA. In the presence of POBP, the sample was found to be less thermally stable. Mechanical testing revealed that the tensile strength and Young’s modulus were decreased, while the elongation at break was increased, suggesting that POBP improved the flexibility of the polyurethane foam. This was in agreement with the observed microstructure. Introducing POBP into the polyurethane foam also decreased the water contact angle from 120° to 80°. However, the oil sorption properties were improved due to interconnected pores along the polyurethane foam structure. Its sorption properties for synthetic dyes (methyl orange and rhodamine B) were also evaluated, and superior sorption properties were found for methyl orange. In short, the polyurethane synthesized from POBP exhibited attractive properties as a sorbent material. The labels in figures (1,3,4,5,6,7,8,9) are not readable. Please provide a new figure with legible labels in Vector EPS or tiff / jpeg format with 600 dpi resolution.Yes, it was provided as a separated file.