Cellulose reinforced polyurethane foams

Performance BioFiltures Inc.(PBI)是一家加拿大公司，目前正在商业化一种名为纤维素丝(CF)的高纤维化纳米纤维材料。CF是由木浆通过广泛的机械精炼步骤生产的。在本项目中，碳纤维被提出作为一种用于聚氨酯泡沫(PUF)的生物增强材料。在六个月的时间里，将追求三个重要目标：1)确定水浓度(发泡剂)对最终PUF密度的影响；2)优化PUF配方(基组分和添加剂)以用于商业生产；3)确定增强类型(不同的PBI产品)对PUF整体性能的影响。对于每个步骤，将执行完整的PUF表征：密度、形态(纤维尺寸、分散性和与复合材料中的基质的粘附性，以及泡沫塑料中的泡孔尺寸、几何形状和密度)和压缩试验。特别是，将使用不同的测试速度来确定所生产材料的粘弹性特性(静态和动态测量)。此外，还将研究泡沫塑料的长期稳定性和耐老化性能。因此，本研究的主要目的是为PBI生产的FC开发新的应用。该项目的成功将极大地提高PBI在快速增长但竞争激烈的基于自然资源的聚合物复合材料和泡沫的全球市场上的竞争力，这是一个加拿大经济非常重要的领域。

Performance BioFilaments Inc. (PBI) is a Canadian company currently commercializing a highly fibrillatednanocellulosic material known as Cellulose Filaments (CF). CF are produced from wood pulp through anextensive mechanical refining step. In this project, CF is proposed as a biobased reinforcement forpolyurethane foams (PUF). For a six months period, three important objectives will be pursued: 1) to determinethe effect of water concentration (blowing agent) on the final PUF density, 2) to optimize the PUF formulation(base components and additives) as for commercial productions, and 3) to determine the effect ofreinforcement type (different PBI products) on the overall PUF properties.For each step, a full PUF characterization will be performed: density, morphology (fiber size, dispersion andadhesion with the matrix in the composite, as well as cell size, geometry and density in the foams) andcompression testing. In particular, different testing velocity will be used to determine the viscoelastic properties(static and dynamic measurements) of the materials produced. Also, long term stability and resistance of thefoams (aging properties) will be studied.So the main objective of this investigation is to develop new applications for the FC produced by PBI. Thesuccess of this project would greatly benefit the competitiveness of PBI in a fast-growing but competitiveglobal market of polymer composites and foams based on natural resources, a field where the Canadianeconomy is highly important.