Linseed oil as a natural modifier of rigid polyurethane foams

Fast growing awareness of environmental and economic problems associated with global climate warming and anticipated future depletion of petroleum resources is driving the fast growing demand for new sustainable biomaterials. A scale of new developments of versatile materials made from abundant and inexpensive natural sources is growing worldwide. Following a wide volume of research studies focused on application of bio-based components for production of plastic foams, composites, coatings, sealants or adhesives, this paper reports the development of a novel type of rigid polyurethane foams (RPUFs), containing linseed oil (LO) as a natural modifier of the rigid polyurethane foams. The use of natural bio-oils for polyurethane composites, broadens the range of functional properties and reduces the costs of production. The bio-composites are more ecofriendly and creates the opportunity to utilize linseed oil, a raw material available in many countries in large quantities. Our research shows that polyurethane foams containing linseed oil demonstrate variety of favorable properties, including the improvement of mechanical strength characteristics. The aim of this work was to determine the influence of the linseed oil on the foam morphology and their physical properties. Our major goal was to optimize the foam formulation, including the content of linseed oil in the reaction mixture.