Preparation, Characterization and Dye Decolorization Application of Chitosan/Polyurethane Foam Material

Abstract

A series of chitosan/polyurethane (Cs/PU) materials were prepared from polyether polyol, isophorone diisocyanate, chitosan, n-hexane as foaming agent, dibutylbis (lauroyloxy) tin as catalyst and silicon oil as stabilizer by foaming technique. The materials were characterized by FT-IR, DSC and TGA. Cs/PU materials were used to decolorize azo dye. Decolorizing process was spontaneous at ambient temperature and presented an exothermic characteristic. The decolorization experiments were carried out and around 78% of the azo present in solution could be removed. The experimental results suggest that the Cs/PU materials have potential applications as decolorizing agent for the treatment of dye effluents.

Keywords:

• Chitosan
• Decolorization
• Foam material
• Polyurethane

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

This project was supported by the Agricultural Independent Innovation of Jiangsu Province (CX(11)2032), Jiangsu Planned Projects for Postdoctoral Research Funds (1002033C) and Jiangsu Province Key Laboratory of Fine Petro-chemical Technology (213164).