Renewable natural resources reinforced polyurethane foam for use of lightweight thermal insulation
Huijuan Shao, Qiyuan Zhang, Han Liu, Wenjing Guo, Yongze Jiang, Lin Chen, Lu He, Jinqiu Qi, Hui Xiao, Yuzhu Chen, Xingyan Huang, Jiulong Xie, Todd F. Shupe
Abstract
Abstract To obtain the energy-saving and environment-friendly lightweight bio-based thermal insulation, polyurethane matrix was incorporated with wood fiber, bamboo fiber, rice husk and liquefied polyol at different percentages (25%, 30%, and 35%). The results revealed that the apparent density for the natural fibers reinforced thermal polyurethane insulation was between 105 kg.m −3 and 178 kg.m −3 by adding 35% of the fibers into the polyurethane matrix. The thermal conductivity of the bio-based thermal insulation ranged from 0.045 to 0.065 W.m −1 K −1 , the addition of the natural fibers increased mechanical strength. The prepared bio-based insulation showed great potential for building thermal insulations with particularly low thermal conductivity (less than 0.065 W.m −1 K −1 ) and self-bearing strength.