Chemical Recycling of Commercial Polyurethane (PUR) for Automotive

presentation, poster

English

The proposed presentation focuses on the chemical recycling of polyurethanes for the vehicle industry. We performed the PUR depolymerization using novel 2-hydroxypropyl ricinoleate to enhance the flexibility of the eventual product and incorporate promising renewable sources into the commercially used polymeric material. Our proposed recycling route uses all present liquid depolymerized components in one batch, and the raw material is continually used for to fabricate new products. In the first step, PUR is depolymerized in a microwave reactor using 2-hydroxypropyl ricinoleate as a reactive compound. The raw depolymerized material, containing residual amines (catalysts), was continually used in different ratios as an additional component in the virgin polyol for PUR fabrication. The experiments uncovered that 20 wt.% of the raw material is the highest content, fulfilling the process requirements such as reaction times, viscosity, or block foam density. We up-scaled the recycled PUR material containing 20 wt.% of the raw material and studied its material properties. Tensile and flexural tests uncovered the flexibility enhancements. Tensile elongation remained practically the same, but error bars decreased considerably. Flexural strain increased by around 10% compared to the virgin PUR. All presented experiments were performed in cooperation with BASF Polyurethanes.

Polyurethane, Chemical Recycling, 2-hydroxypropyl ricinoleate, Automotive, Flexibility

JAŠEK, V.; FIGALLA, S.; PŘIKRYL, R.

17. 5. 2025

Scholars Forum

Bratislava, Slovakia

16

Presentation.pdf