Investigation of mechanical properties of castor-oil polyurethane foam reinforced with microfibrillated cellulose.
Castor-oil polyurethane, foams, physical and mechanical properties, microfibrillated cellulose, silanisation
This work focuses on developing and characterising castor-oil polyurethane foam composites reinforced with microfibrillated cellulose (MFC). The mechanical properties of the materials are investigated in three-point bending and uniaxial compression tests. The Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) technique will be used to determine the influence of the MFC mass fraction (0 phr, 1 phr and 2 phr) on the mechanical properties of the materials. The condition that provides the best mechanical properties will be selected to investigate the surface treatment of microfibrils with 3-glycidyloxypropyl-trimethoxysilane (GPS) (10g/7g and 20g/7g). Compression tests are carried out parallel and perpendicular to the direction of expansion of the foam in the mould. Preliminary results are promising, revealing foams with elastoplastic behaviour, with an elastic modulus of around 16 ± 2 MPa and resistance to plastic collapse of 0.54 ± 0.06 MPa. These results refer to pure foam. The addition of cellulose microfibrils will potentially increase these values.