Green Polyurethane

Renewable resource

The global market for foamed plastics (polyurethane) is predicted to reach 9.6 million tons by the year 2015.

Indeed, polyurethanes (PUs) are among the most important polymeric materials, driven by the expanding demand on foams as well as insulations, coatings and paints, elastic fibers,… which find applications in various fields such as automotive industry, construction, furniture and bedding or medical devices.

Current interests in PU research presently aims at sustainability and essentially involve the valorization of renewable resources as well as the development of green synthetic routes.

In a combined academic and industrial approach, researchers from the Sciences Chimiques de Rennes at the University of Rennes 1 have collaborated with Total on the development of renewable PUs from a byproduct of biodiesel production, namely glycerol. Also, the set up remains free of isocyanate, a reagent traditionally used in combination with polyols for the preparation of PUs. The new polymers formed are thus non-isocyanate polyurethanes, NIPUs.

By using glycerol as a synthon, several cyclic carbonate monomers can be prepared among which trimetlyene carbonate (TMC) and the glycerol carbonate (GC). The former carbonate has been used to prepare the polycarbonate (PTMC) by ring-opening polymerization, and the latter five-membered carbonate ring has been subsequently introduced at each macromolecule chain-end, thereby generating a GC-PTMC-GC. By reacting with a diamine in a polyaddition reaction, this new GC-functionalized polycarbonate then drives the formation of the poly(carbonate-urethane)s.*

In this approach, renewable, glycerol-based bis(cyclic carbonate) polymers replace a portion of the petroleum polyols from which polyurethane foam is traditionally made. Besides, a diamine is being used in place of the more toxic isocyanate. This new and unique green poly(carbonate-urethane) NIPU is expected to foster growth in the green plastics market.

*Poly(Carbonate-Urethane): an Isocyanate-free Procedure from a,w-di(Cyclic Carbonate) Telechelic Poly(Trimethylene Carbonate)s. M. Helou, J.-F. Carpentier, S. M. Guillaume, Green Chemistry, 2011, 13, 266-271; Eur. Pat. Appl. 10-290398-6 (15-07-2010)

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Sciences Chimiques de Rennes