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Evaluation of Bio-Polyurethane Foam Synthesized from Liquefied Waste Wood Polyol
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Researchers synthesized bio-polyurethane foam using bio-polyol derived from liquefied waste wood and investigated its biodegradation process using elemental composition analysis (CHN coder) and FTIR spectroscopy to track chemical structure changes, going beyond conventional CO2 emission measurements. The study identified three distinct degradation phases and characterized the chemical bonding breakages that occur during biodegradation, providing more detailed mechanistic insight into how bio-polyurethane foams break down in soil.
Bio-polyurethane foam was synthesized in this study using bio-polyol derived from liquefied waste wood as a sustainable alternative to petroleum-based polyols. It has been widely reported that polyurethane foams incorporating liquefied wood exhibit biodegradability when buried in soil, with assessments typically relying on CO2 emission measurements in a close system. However, this method cannot obtain any chemical bonding breakage information of the bio-polyurethane foam. On the other hand, our study investigated the biodegradation process by employing an elemental composition analysis using a CHN coder and functional group analysis through Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy to capture chemical structure changing. The results demonstrated that biodegradation occurs in three different stages over time, even in the absence of significant early-stage weight loss. The gradual breakdown of urethane bonds was confirmed through changes in the elemental composition and functional group ratios, providing a more detailed understanding of the degradation mechanism. These findings suggest highlighting the importance of complementary chemical analytical techniques for a more accurate evaluation. On the other hand, TG data showed that bio-polyurethane foams remained thermally stable even after biodegradation occurred.
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