Chemical Recycling and Liquefaction of Rigid Polyurethane Foam Wastes through Microwave Assisted Glycolysis Process

Glycolysis of polyurethane rigid foams (PUFs) was performed utilizing microwave irradiation at atmospheric pressure. The effects of various metal hydroxide and acetate catalysts as well as different microwave powers were investigated. All reactions were monitored by FTIR spectroscopy. The recovered liquid product containing OH functional groups was applied as a portion of the polyol in formulation of a new polyurethane rigid foam product. The reactivity factors and densities were compared with the foam produced from totally virgin polyol.

Keywords:

• polyurethane rigid foam
• microwave
• glycolysis
• polyol recovery