{"title":"Pore Size Control Mechanism of a Rigid Polyurethane Foam","authors":"Junsu Chae, Yoonki Lee, Siyoung Q. Choi","doi":"10.1007/s11814-024-00275-2","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Rigid polyurethane foam is a widely used insulation material in various industrial fields. Enhancing its insulating performance often involves controlling pore size to reduce radiative conductivity and, in some cases, decrease gas thermal conductivity through the Knudsen effect. While numerous studies have addressed reducing the pore size of thermoplastic polymer foam to the nano-scale, limited research has focused on rigid polyurethane foam. Although some studies have shown that pore size changes with the addition of nucleating agents, a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms governing pore size remains elusive. Therefore, this study investigates the factors determining the pore size of rigid polyurethane foam. Our findings confirm that the size of air bubbles formed during the blending of prepolymers has the most significant impact on pore size. Furthermore, we demonstrate that regulating the size of air bubbles before the urethane reaction allows for control over the final pore size. Experimental details substantiating these findings are presented.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":684,"journal":{"name":"Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.9000,"publicationDate":"2024-09-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11814-024-00275-2","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"CHEMISTRY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Rigid polyurethane foam is a widely used insulation material in various industrial fields. Enhancing its insulating performance often involves controlling pore size to reduce radiative conductivity and, in some cases, decrease gas thermal conductivity through the Knudsen effect. While numerous studies have addressed reducing the pore size of thermoplastic polymer foam to the nano-scale, limited research has focused on rigid polyurethane foam. Although some studies have shown that pore size changes with the addition of nucleating agents, a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms governing pore size remains elusive. Therefore, this study investigates the factors determining the pore size of rigid polyurethane foam. Our findings confirm that the size of air bubbles formed during the blending of prepolymers has the most significant impact on pore size. Furthermore, we demonstrate that regulating the size of air bubbles before the urethane reaction allows for control over the final pore size. Experimental details substantiating these findings are presented.
期刊介绍:
The Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering provides a global forum for the dissemination of research in chemical engineering. The Journal publishes significant research results obtained in the Asia-Pacific region, and simultaneously introduces recent technical progress made in other areas of the world to this region. Submitted research papers must be of potential industrial significance and specifically concerned with chemical engineering. The editors will give preference to papers having a clearly stated practical scope and applicability in the areas of chemical engineering, and to those where new theoretical concepts are supported by new experimental details. The Journal also regularly publishes featured reviews on emerging and industrially important subjects of chemical engineering as well as selected papers presented at international conferences on the subjects.