Synthesis of polyether-polyol grafted with poly(styrene-co-acrylonitrile-co-hydroxyethyl methacrylate)

Abstract

Poly(styrene-co-acrylonitrile-co-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (polyol-g-PSAH) was grafted onto commercial polyether polyol via radical polymerization using benzoyl peroxide (BPO) as initiator to produce the grafted polyol having high hydroxyl group contents for making polyurethane foam. The structure of polyol-g-PSAH was confirmed by NMR, FT-IR, and GPC. The product obtained was pale yellow colloid. The viscosity and particle size of colloid were in the range of 2,200–19,000 cPs and 0.18-0.71 µm, respectively. Increasing hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) concentration led to a decrease in its viscosity and particle size.The concentration of initiator that yielded the most appropriate viscosity is 6 mol%. At high reaction temperature afforded small particle size and high viscosity. Investigation of factors on grafting properties revealed that high concentration of HEMA and initiator afforded high grafting efficiency of St/AN/HEMA and low free homopolymer content. The optimum of reaction temperature to obtain high PSAH grafting was observed at 115°C. Using polymer polyol of 50% wt based on total polyol in synthesis of flexible polyurethane foam (FPU) showed high compression strength (240 kPa) while the density of FPU foam preserved at the same level with the unmodified foam.