Water‐Induced Self‐Blown Non‐Isocyanate Polyurethane Foams
Maxime Bourguignon, Bruno Grignard, Christophe Detrembleur
Abstract
Abstract For 80 years, polyisocyanates and polyols were central building blocks for the industrial fabrication of polyurethane (PU) foams. By their partial hydrolysis, isocyanates release CO 2 that expands the PU network. Substituting this toxic isocyanate‐based chemistry by a more sustainable variant—that in situ forms CO 2 by hydrolysis of a comonomer—is urgently needed for producing greener cellular materials. Herein, we report a facile, up‐scalable process, potentially compatible to existing infrastructures, to rapidly prepare water‐induced self‐blown non‐isocyanate polyurethane (NIPU) foams. We show that formulations composed of poly(cyclic carbonate)s and polyamines furnish rigid or flexible NIPU foams by partial hydrolysis of cyclic carbonates in the presence of a catalyst. By utilizing readily available low cost starting materials, this simple but robust process gives access to greener PU foams, expectedly responding to the sustainability demands of many sectors.