EFFICIENT GREEN SYNTHETIC ROUTES TO BIO-BASED POLYURETHANES
FROM SOYMEAL
By
Siva Rama Krishna Chalasani

A DISSERTATION
Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for degree of
Packaging - Doctor of Philosophy
2014

ABSTRACT
EFFICIENT GREEN SYNTHETIC ROUTES TO BIO-BASED POLYURETHANES
FROM SOYMEAL
By
Siva Rama Krishna Chalasani
Polyurethane, a versatile polymer, can be produced in various forms like flexible foams,
rigid foams, elastomers, coatings and adhesives with a wide range of properties. Traditionally,
polyurethanes are prepared by reacting polyols and diisocyanates. The overall objective of this
research was to investigate the feasibility of using readily available and relatively cheap soy meal
as a starting material to produce biobased urethane polyols for polyurethane. The amine groups,
already present in the soy meal protein, can be converted to urethane polyols.
In this study, these hydroxyl-terminated urethanes were further reacted with dimethyl
terephthalate in a two-step reaction to obtain polyurethanes without employing the toxic
isocyanate reagent. Glycine, an amino acid found in soy meal was used as a model compound for
this study for understanding the chemistry and developing the process. The structures, properties
of the intermediates and products were characterized by 1H NMR, FTIR, acid, amine and
hydroxyl values, as well as the key thermal, rheological, morphological properties of the polymer
were analyzed..
In the next phase of this study, these developed polyols were further reacted with
isocyanates and evaluated in rigid polyurethane foams. A commercial sucrose based polyol was
used as a reference petroleum-based polyol. Foams were prepared at Isocyanate Index of 105110. PU rigid foams with 25% and 50% soy meal polyol formulations exhibited comparable
properties to foams prepared with 100% commercial conventional polyols for rigid foams,

including density, compressive strength, compressive strain at yield, friability, water
absorption, burning rate and dimensional stability with aging.
A relatively simple method was developed for routine determination of hydroxyl
values for a wide range of hydroxyl containing compounds including soybean oil polyols,
polyether polyols, ethylene glycol and their blends. This method was based on reacting
the hydroxyl compound with hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) and determining the FTIR
peak area of the silylated product at 1251 cm -1. This method is simple and accurate and
is not limited to a specific family of polyol compounds. It does not require any special
equipment or hazardous chemicals and can be carried out by non-technical staff as a rapid
and convenient method for quantitative determination of hydroxyl values. An excellent
linear correlation was obtained between this spectroscopic method and conventional
titration methods for different types of polyols over a wide range of hydroxyl values.
Furthermore, unlike the titration methods the current method is not affected by the
presence of acid, base or small amounts of water in the test sample.
Further, the soymeal polyol and castor oil have been further utilized for
synthesizing aqueous polyurethane dispersions for coating applications on paper and
cellophane substrates. The coatings were evaluated for various properties using contact
angle analysis, viscosity measurements, scanning electron microscopy, barrier properties
against water vapor and oxygen permeation.
In the last phase, biodegradability studies that were carried out during the course
of the study on polyvinyl alcohol, soymeal polyol and castor oil based polyurethane films
according to different standards are reported and discussed.

To Lord Sri Krishna

iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A dissertation of this scope certainly cannot be accomplished without a wealth of
support. I take this opportunity to express my deep gratitude to my major professor Dr.
Ramani Narayan whose support and guidance were invaluable. He was always a constant
source of motivation, inspiration and had been my role model. I thank my major
professor at the school of Packaging Dr. Susan Selke for her guidance and constant
support. Her patience and helpfulness was always a great source of strength. My special
thanks to Dr. Daniel Graiver, who guided me at various stages of my research. He was
available all the time for offering valuable suggestions and was always a great source of
motivation. My special thanks to Dr. Laurent Matuana and Dr. Diana Twede for their
constructive criticisms and suggestions which helped shape and improve this dissertation.
My special thanks to Dr. Elodie Hablot, post-doctoral candidate who worked in
our group for her guidance and help at various stages of my research. I thank my friend
Dr. Zhiguan Yang, whose company was always a great source of relief and help. I would
also like to thank Dr. Xiangke Shi for his enthusiasm and help in all the activities of our
group. My special thanks to other members of our Biobased Materials Research Group
Atishi Bali, Sudhanwa Dewasthale, Chetan Thambe, Jeff Schneider, Yanjie Zhao and
Samaneh Rahimi. Their diverse talents, enthusiasm and skills supplemented my research
and the cohesion in the group was always a great source of strength. Also my special
thanks to Ken Farminer, who was also a great source of support and strength.
I am thankful to Mike Rich at the MSU Composite Materials and Structures
Center for his help in getting me trained on various analytical instruments. My special

iv

thanks to Dr. Ajay Katuria and Aaron Walworth for their training on the special
equipment available at the School of Packaging.
I wish to express my gratitude towards my parents and grand parents whose
blessings made this possible. My special thanks to my wife Sushma whose
understanding, support, cooperation and encouragement greatly helped me in
accomplishing this task. Also special thanks to my little son Mokshagna whose presence
at home always relieved me of the tensions associated with this work.
And finally I bow in reverence to Almighty Lord Sri Krishna for giving me the
strength to accomplish these tasks and granting me success in my endeavors.

v

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... xi
LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................... .xiii
Chapter 1 Introduction .....................................................................................................................1
1.1 Polyurethanes .................................................................................................................1
1.2 Application of polyurethanes in packaging ...................................................................2
1.3 Raw materials.................................................................................................................3
1.3.1 Isocyanates ...............................................................................................................3
1.3.2 Polyols ......................................................................................................................4
1.4 Goals and objectives ......................................................................................................5
1.5 PhD dissertation outline .................................................................................................6
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................8
Chapter 2 Synthesis of polyurethanes from soymeal by a non-isocyanate route ..........................10
2.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................10
2.2 Literature review ..........................................................................................................12
2.2.1 Utilization of soybean.............................................................................................12
2.2.2 Hydrolysis of soy proteins ......................................................................................14
2.2.3 Protection of carboxylic acid groups ......................................................................16
2.2.4 Synthesis of hydroxy-terminated urethane polyols ................................................17
2.3 Materials and methods .................................................................................................19
2.3.1 Measurements .........................................................................................................20
2.4 Experimental procedure ...............................................................................................21
2.4.1 Synthesis of aminated glycine (Gly-ED) ................................................................21
2.4.2 Synthesis of hydroxy-terminated urethane monomer (Gly-OH) ............................22
2.4.3 Synthesis of poly(amide-urethane-ester)s from glycine (Gly-OH-DMT[P]) .........22
2.4.4 Acid hydrolysis of soy meal ...................................................................................25
2.4.5 Amination of soy hydrolyzate ................................................................................25
2.4.6 Synthesis of hydroxy-terminated urethanes from soymeal ...................................25
2.4.7 Poly(amide-urethane-ester)s from soymeal(SMS-OH- DMT[P]) .........................25
2.5 Results and Discussion ................................................................................................26
2.5.1 Synthesis of hydroxyl-terminated amide urethane monomers ...............................26
2.5.2 Synthesis of poly(amide-urethane-ester)s ..............................................................33
2.6 Conclusions ..................................................................................................................40
REFERENCES ...........................................................................................................42
Chapter 3 Rigid polyurethane foams based on soy meal polyols ..................................................48
3.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................49
3.2 Literature review ..........................................................................................................50

vi

3.2.1 Synthetic routes to vegetable oil-based polyols .....................................................54
3.2.2 Rigid polyurethane foams from vegetable oil-based polyols .................................59
3.3 Experimental methods .................................................................................................61
3.3.1 Preparation of rigid polyurethane foams ................................................................65
3.4 Results and discussion .................................................................................................67
3.4.1 Rigid polyurethane foams.......................................................................................69
3.4.2 Soymeal rigid PU foams vs. commercial packaging PU foams .............................72
3.5 Conclusions ..................................................................................................................72
REFERENCES ...........................................................................................................74

Chapter 4 A spectroscopic method for hydroxyl value determination of polyols .........................80
4.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................80
4.2 Materials and methods .................................................................................................83
4.2.1 Materials .................................................................................................................83
4.2.2 Instrumentation .......................................................................................................84
4.2.3 Silylation of polyols with HMDS ...........................................................................84
4.2.4 OHV determination by titration..............................................................................85
4.2.5 OHV determination by FTIR ..................................................................................85
4.3 Results and discussion .................................................................................................86
4.3.1 Method development ..............................................................................................88
4.3.2 Precision and accuracy ...........................................................................................89
4.3.3 Structural considerations ........................................................................................92
4.3.4 Correlation with the titration method .....................................................................94
4.3.5 Interferences ...........................................................................................................95
4.4 Conclusions ..................................................................................................................97
REFERENCES ...........................................................................................................98
Chapter 5 Evaluation of PU coatings derived from soymeal polyol and castor Oil ....................101
5.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................101
5.2 Literature review ........................................................................................................103
5.2.1 Isocyanates, polyols and catalysts ........................................................................107
5.2.2 Waterborne polyurethane dispersions ..................................................................108
5.2.3 Applications of PU dispersions ............................................................................114
5.2.4 Castor oil based polyurethanes .............................................................................115
5.3 Material and methods .................................................................................................119
5.3.1 Measurements .......................................................................................................119
5.3.1.1 Attenuated total reflection-fourier tranform infrared (ATR-FTIR) ................119
5.3.1.2 End group analysis ..........................................................................................119
5.3.1.3 Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) ........................................................120
5.3.1.4 Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) ................................................................120
5.3.1.5 Barrier properties against water vapor and oxygen permeation......................120
5.3.1.6 Water absorption resistance test of coatings (Cobb test) ................................121
5.3.1.7 Scanning electron microscopy ........................................................................121
5.4 Experimental procedures ...........................................................................................122
5.4.1 Soymeal-based polyurethane dispersions .............................................................122

vii

5.4.1.1 Aqueous alcoholic treatment of soymeal ........................................................122
5.4.1.2 Synthesis of soymeal polyurethane dispersions ..............................................122
5.4.2 Synthesis of castor oil based polyurethane dispersions (CO-PUDs)....................123
5.5 Results and discussion ...............................................................................................123
5.5.1 Soymeal polyol PUDs ..........................................................................................123
5.5.2 Castor oil PUDs ....................................................................................................134
5.5.3 Comparison between soymeal polyol and castor oil based PUDs .......................142
5.5 Conclusions ................................................................................................................143
REFERENCES .........................................................................................................144
Chapter 6 Biodegradability studies ..............................................................................................153
6.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................153
6.2 Literature review ........................................................................................................154
6.2.1 Various factors affecting the biodegradability of polymers .................................154
6.2.2 Influence of environmental conditions on biodegradability .................................158
6.2.3 Affects of polymers properties on their biodegradability.....................................159
6.2.4 Standard test methods ...........................................................................................160
6.3 Biodegradability testing of polyvinyl alcohol in aqueous medium ...........................162
6.3.1 Introduction ..........................................................................................................162
6.3.2 Experimental methods .........................................................................................163
6.3.2.1 Materials ..........................................................................................................163
6.3.2.2 Microbial source..............................................................................................164
6.3.2.3 Biodegradation tests in aqueous medium ........................................................165
6.3.3 Biodegradation kinetics ........................................................................................169
6.3.4 Results and discussion ..........................................................................................171
6.3.4.1 Biodegradation of PVA in non-acclimatized medium ....................................171
6.3.4.2 Biodegradation of PVA in the presence of acclimatized inoculum ................174
6.3.5 Conclusions ..........................................................................................................177
6.4 Biodegradability testing of castor oil PU films and soymeal polyol using
Microbial oxidation degradation analyzer (MODA) .................................................177
6.4.1 Introduction ..........................................................................................................177
6.4.2 Experimental methods ..........................................................................................178
6.4.2.1 Materials ..........................................................................................................178
6.4.2.2 Gravimetric measurement respirometric system .............................................179
6.4.2.3 Preparation of compost ...................................................................................180
6.4.3 Results and discussion ..........................................................................................182
6.4.3.1 Biodegradation of castor oil based PU films ..................................................182
6.4.3.2 Biodegradation of soymeal polyol ..................................................................184
6.4.3.3 Biodegradation kinetic studies ........................................................................187
6.4.4 Conclusions ..........................................................................................................190
REFERENCES .........................................................................................................191
Chapter 7 Summary and recommendations for future work ........................................................196
7.1 Summary ....................................................................................................................196
7.1.1 Synthesis of polyurethanes from soymeal by a non - isocyanate route ................196
7.1.2 Rigid polyurethane foams based on soymeal polyols ..........................................196

viii

7.1.3 Spectroscopic method for hydroxyl value determination .....................................197
7.1.4 Evaluation of PU coatings based on soymeal polyol and castor oil .....................197
7.1.5 Biodegradability studies .......................................................................................198
7.2 Recommendations for future work ............................................................................199
7.2.1 Synthesis of soymeal polyols suitable for flexible polyurethane foams ..............199
7.2.2 Evaluation of soymeal polyols for adhesive formulations ...................................199
7.2.3 Shelf life studies for packaging applications ........................................................199

ix

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1.1: US. polyurethane production by end-use market, 2010 .................................................3
Table 1.2: Estimated global PU raw material demand (MMlbs) 2012 ............................................4
Table 2.1: Composition of amino acids .........................................................................................15
Table 2.2: End group analysis of PU and its intermediates synthesized
from glycine ..................................................................................................................28
Table 2.3: End group analysis of PU and its intermediates synthesized
from soy meal ................................................................................................................32
Table 2.4: Mw of Gly-OH-DMT[P] as a function of OH values...................................................34
Table 3.1: The most common fatty acids found in vegetable oils .................................................53
Table 3.2: Typical formulation of rigid foams derived from
propoxylated soymeal polyol ........................................................................................66
Table 3.3: Foam characterization methods ....................................................................................66
Table 3.4: End group analysis and viscosity of polyols ................................................................69
Table 3.5: Properties of rigid PU foams prepared from propoxylated soy
meal urethane polyols ...................................................................................................71
Table 3.6: Properties comparison between soymeal polyol foams and
commercial PU packaging foams..................................................................................72
Table 4.1: Statistical analysis of the areas under the silylated FTIR bands ...................................89
Table 4.2: Reproducibility of FTIR peak areas of silylated polyols ..............................................91
Table 4.3: Effect of acid, base and water on the OHV ..................................................................97
Table 5.1: Different types of coatings by ASTM classification ..................................................106
Table 5.2: Castor oil composition ................................................................................................116
Table 5.3: Carbohydrate content analysis in soymeal .................................................................124

x

Table 5.4: End group analysis of soymeal polyol ........................................................................128
Table 5.5: Glass transition and degradation temperatures of soymeal polyol
PUD film .....................................................................................................................131
Table 5.6: Cobb values, WVTR and contact angles of soymeal polyol PUD
coatings .......................................................................................................................132
Table 5.7: Properties of castor oil PUDs & coatings ...................................................................136
Table 5.8: Glass transition and degradation temperatures of castor oil
PUD films ...................................................................................................................138
Table 5.9: Cobb values, contact angles, WVTR and OTR results of castor oil
PUD coatings ..............................................................................................................140
Table 6.3.1: Kinetic parameters of PVA degradation in acclimatized
and non-acclimatized inoculum .............................................................................172
Table 6.4.1: Percent biodegradation of castor oil PU film as a function of time.........................184
Table 6.4.2: Biodegradation kinetic parameters of castor oil PU and
soymeal polyol .......................................................................................................187

xi

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1.1: Polyurethane synthesis, with urethane groups -NH-(C=O)-Olinking the molecular chains .........................................................................................2
Figure 2.1: Composition of soybeans ............................................................................................13
Figure 2.2: Schematic representation of soy proteins containing functional
side groups ..................................................................................................................15
Figure 2.3: Synthesis of methyl carbamate ....................................................................................17
Figure 2.4: Conversion of peptide-carbamates to hydroxy pre-polymers &
polyurethanes ..............................................................................................................18
Figure 2.5: Synthesis of hydroxyl terminated (amide-urethane) oligomers
from glycine ................................................................................................................22
Figure 2.6: Synthesis of poly(amide-urethane-ester)s using
dimethyl terephthalate ................................................................................................24
Figure 2.7: ATR-FTIR of (A) Gly, (B) Gly-ED, (C) Gly-OH and
(D) the final polymer ..................................................................................................27
Figure 2.8: 1H NMR of Gly-OH ....................................................................................................30
Figure 2.9: FTIR data of (A) SMS, (B) SMS-ED, (C) SMS-OH,
(D) SMS-OH-DMT, (E) SMS-OH-DMT[P] ..............................................................31
Figure 2.10: Mw of Gly-OH-DMT[P] as a function of OH values ...............................................34
Figure 2.11: TGA of PU from (A) glycine and (B) soy meal ........................................................35
Figure 2.12: DSC of PU from (A) glycine and (B) soy meal ........................................................36
Figure 2.13: Storage (G') and loss modulus (G'') of PU from glycine as a
function of temperature...............................................................................................37
Figure 2.14: Storage (G') and loss modulus (G'') of PU from soy meal as a
function of temperature...............................................................................................37
Figure 2.15: Viscosity of PU from glycine as a function of reaction time ....................................38

xii

Figure 2.16: Viscosity of PU from soy meal as a function of reaction time..................................39
Figure 2.17: Log viscosity Vs log shear rate chart of PUs from glycine (A)
and soy meal (B) at a temperature of 180 oC ..............................................................39
Figure 2.18: TEM images of PU synthesized from glycine (left) and soy meal (right)
showing the phase separation between soft and hard segments .................................40
Figure 3.1: Triglyceride structure, where R1, R2, R3 are fatty acids ..............................................52
Figure 3.2: Polyol synthesis from epoxidized vegetable oils ........................................................55
Figure 3.3: Ozonolysis route to synthesis of polyols from vegetable oil.......................................57
Figure 3.4: Synthesis of polyols from vegetable oils by hydroformylation ..................................58
Figure 3.5: Preparation of hydroxyl-terminated urethane monomer .............................................62
Figure 3.6: Propoxylation of soymeal polyol ................................................................................64
Figure 3.7: Samples of rigid polyurethane foams prepared with combination of water
and Enovate 3000 blowing agent; A - reference formulations (0% soy
mealpolyol); B - fomulations with 25% soy meal polyol; C - formulations
with
50% soy meal polyol .................................................................................................70
Figure 4.1: Silylation of polyols with HMDS ................................................................................84
Figure 4.2: FTIR spectra of a sample polyol (A), the same sample after
silylation (B) and after subtraction (insert) .................................................................86
Figure 4.3: Accuracy of the method as determined by comparing the experimental
to calculated OHVs .....................................................................................................90
Figure 4.4: Correlation of the FTIR method with the calculated OHV .........................................91
Figure 4.5: Correlation of the FTIR method with the titration method .........................................93
Figure 4.6: Normal probability plot ...............................................................................................94
Figure 4.7: Residual plot of OHV ..................................................................................................95
Figure 5.1: Reactions of polyisocyanates in PU coating systems ................................................104
Figure 5.2: Synthesis of anionic waterborne PU dispersions ......................................................109

xiii

Figure 5.3: 1st generation, polyether modified hydrophilic polyisocyanate ................................112
Figure 5.4: 2nd generation, polyether modified hydrophilic polyisocyanate
(allophanate) .............................................................................................................112
Figure 5.5: 3rd generation, aminosulfonate modified hydrophilic polyisocyanate ......................113
Figure 5.6: Breakdown of the US coating market in 2010 ..........................................................114
Figure 5.7: Structure of castor oil ................................................................................................115
Figure 5.8: Flow chart for the synthesis of PUDs from soymeal.................................................126
Figure 5.9: FTIR of soymeal polyol and its intermediates ..........................................................127
Figure 5.10: FTIR spectra of coatings made using soymeal polyol PUDs ..................................129
Figure 5.11: TGA and its derivate curve for soymeal polyol PUD films ....................................130
Figure 5.12: DSC scan for the soymeal polyol based PUD films ................................................131
Figure 5.13: Surface (left) and cross-sectional (right) SEM images of
Form-WB uncoated substrate ...................................................................................132
Figure 5.14: Surface (left) and cross-sectional (right) SEM images of
soymeal polyol PUD coatings ..................................................................................132
Figure 5.15: Flow chart for the synthesis of PUDs from castor oil .............................................135
Figure 5.16: Viscosity of the castor oil PUDs as a function of time
at different RPMs ......................................................................................................135
Figure 5.17: FTIR spectrum of castor oil PUD coated film ........................................................136
Figure 5.18: TGA and its derivative curve for castor oil PUD film ............................................137
Figure 5.19: DSC scan for the castor oil PUD film .....................................................................138
Figure 5.20: SEM photographs of uncoated (left) and coated (right) cellophane
substrate (top): SEM photographs showing the cross-sections of the
uncoated (left) and coated (right) cellophane substrates (bottom) ...........................139
Figure 6.1: Various factors that affect biodegradation ................................................................156
Figure 6.2: General mechanism for the biodegradation of plastics by microorganisms .............158

xiv

Figure 6.3.1: Chemical structure of poly(vinyl alcohol)..............................................................164
Figure 6.3.2: Schematic of the experimental setup ......................................................................166
Figure 6.3.3: A typical biodegradation curve showing CO2 evolved as a function
of time .......................................................................................................................169
Figure 6.3.4: Biodegradation curves of PVA and cellulose in the presence of
municipal sewage sludge ..........................................................................................171
Figure 6.3.5: Graph of ln(1-y/a) versus time for cellulose in municipal
sewage water .............................................................................................................173
Figure 6.3.6: Biodegradation of PVA, cellulose and starch in the presence of
acclimatized inoculum ..............................................................................................174
Figure 6.3.7: Biodegradation kinetics of PVA-88 in the presence of
acclimatized inoculum ..............................................................................................176
Figure 6.3.8: Biodegradation kinetics of PVA-99 in the presence of
acclimatized inoculum ..............................................................................................176
Figure 6.4.1: Schematic representation of the MODA system ....................................................179
Figure 6.4.2: Evolved carbon dioxide as a function of time for cellulose,
blank and castor oil PU film .....................................................................................183
Figure 6.4.3: Percent biodegradation as a function of time for cellulose
and castor oil PU film ...............................................................................................184
Figure 6.4.4: Cumulative CO2 evolved over time in soymeal polyols, cellulose
and blank ...................................................................................................................186
Figure 6.4.5: Percent biodegradation as a function of time for cellulose and
soymeal polyol ..........................................................................................................186
Figure 6.4.6: Graph of ln(1-y/a) versus time for cellulose ..........................................................188
Figure 6.4.7: Graph of ln(1-y/a) versus time for castor oil PU films...........................................189
Figure 6.4.8: Graph of ln(1-y/a) versus time for soymeal polyol ................................................189
Figure 6.4.9: Comparison between experimental and estimated data
generated by the kinetic model .................................................................................190

xv

Chapter 1 Introduction

1.1 Polyurethanes
Polyurethanes are a class of polymers consisting of organic units joined together
by urethane linkages. Polyurethanes are formed by reaction between a diisocyanate or
a polymeric isocyanate with a polyol in the presence of suitable catalysts and
additives (Figure 1.1). This reaction between the isocyanate group and the hydroxyl
compound was originally described in the 19th century, but the credit for pioneering
the work on polyurethane polymers goes to Otto Bayer and his coworkers in 1937 at
the laboratories of I.G.Farben in Leverkusen, Germany [1]. The condensation reaction
of difunctional hexamethylene diisocyanate and 1,4-butanediol produced the
polyurethane product, which found special uses compared to already existing
plastics[2]. The first commercial applications of polyurethane polymers, elastomers,
coatings and adhesives were developed between 1945 and 1947, followed by flexible
polyurethane foams in 1953 and rigid polyurethane foams in 1957.
The nature of the chemistry allows polyurethanes to be adapted to solve
challenging problems, to be molded into unusual shapes and to enhance industrial and
consumer products, making polyurethanes one of the most versatile plastic materials.
A variety of diisocyanates and a wide range of polyols can be used to produce a
broad spectrum of polyurethanes, including flexible foams, rigid foams, coatings,
adhesives, sealants and elastomers (CASE) etc., to meet the needs of a broad variety
of applications[3,4]. The global consumption of polyurethanes has been on the rise
with an average annual rate of 7% for the last 15 years. Therefore it is not surprising

1

that polyurethanes are all around us, from furniture to automobile parts, footwear,
electronics, textiles, insulations in refrigerators and homes, making them essential to a
multitude of end-use applications.
O

O
C

R1
N

R2

C
HO

N

Polyols

Diisocyanates

H
N

HO
C

OH

H
N
R1

O
C

O
R2

H

n
O

O
Poly(urethane)

Figure 1.1: Polyurethane synthesis, with urethane groups -NH-(C=O)-Olinking the molecular chains

1.2 Applications of polyurethanes in packaging
Polyurethane packaging foams provide cost-effective, custom form-fitting
cushioning to effectively and securely protect items that need to stay safely in-place
during transit. Because of their excellent shock absorbency, water resistance and
resiliency, 29 million pounds of flexible polyurethane foams are used to protect and
cushion especially sensitive products, i.e., computers and other electronics. Rigid
polyurethane foams that are poured-in-place to create a tight, impact-resistant cushion
also are used to protect sensitive or fragile items. Polyurethane adhesives provide
excellent barrier properties and bond strength and are used in packaging for cereals,
snack foods and lunch meats (Table 1.1).

2

Approximately 172 million pounds of polyurethane, which is 4.1% of the total
U.S. polyurethane consumption, caters to the needs of the packaging industry.
Polyurethanes used in packaging generated a revenue of $2.9 billion in shipments in
2010 and supported 9,200 jobs in 200 locations throughout the U.S. [5].

Table 1.1: US. polyurethane production by end-use market, 2010
End-use markets for
Million
% of
polyurethanes
Pounds
Total
Building and Construction
Transportation and Marine
Furniture and Bedding
Machinery and Foundry
Appliances
Packaging
Textiles, Fibers and Apparel
Electronics
Footwear
Others
Total Polyurethanes Production

1,432
770
730
294
230
172
39
30
19
428
4,143

34.60
18.60
17.60
7.10
5.50
4.10
0.90
0.70
0.50
10.30
100.00%

1.3 Raw materials
Isocyanates and polyols are the two major raw materials for making
polyurethanes.
1.3.1 Isocyanates
Isocyanates form the A-side component in polyurethane chemistry with the
functional group –N=C=O. Isocyanates are commonly produced by the phosgenation of
amines. This reaction is usually completed in a chlorinated aromatic solvent in order to
remove excess phosgene in later purification stages.
Methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) and toluene diisocyanate (TDI) are the
two major isocyanates utilized in the global isocyanate market. In 2012, approximately

3

70.1% of isocyanates utilized in the global market were MDI, 25.9% were TDI, and
approximately 3.9% were other types of isocyanate [6]. Other types of isocyanates like
1,6-hexane diisocyanate (HDI), isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI), 1,5-naphthalene
diisocyanate (NDI) and 1,4-phenylene diisocyanate (PDI) are also used in different
applications (Table 1.2).
Table 1.2: Estimated global PU raw material demand (MMlbs) 2012
PU Raw
NAFTA S.America
EMEA
Asia
China Total
materials
Pacific
(MMlbs)
MDI

2105

275

3640

1985

3085

11090

TDI

595

330

1380

465

1325

4095

Aliphatic Iso.

145

20

140

55

265

625

Polyester polyols

770

120

880

450

1100

3320

Polyether polyols

2205

830

4960

1785

4850

14630

Additives

1125

210

950

935

2645

5865

Total

6945

1785

11950

5675

13270

39625

1.3.2 Polyols
The polyols are a source of multifunctional hydroxyl groups and form the B-side
component in the synthesis of polyurethane products. Polyether polyols and polyester
polyols are the two major petroleum-based polyols utilized in the global polyols market
[6]. In general, polyether polyols are synthesized by the reaction of ethylene glycol,
propylene glycol and other initiators like glycerin with alkylene oxides to form primary
hydroxyl groups [7]. Polyester polyols are synthesized by the reaction between glycols

4

such as 1,6-hexanediol or polyols such as glycerin with diester or diacid to form primary
polyester polyols [8].
Polyols have different physicochemical properties that play an important role in
the properties of the final polyurethane products. The important properties for
characterizing the polyols are described below.
Acid number (mg KOH/g) is defined as the amount in milligrams of potassium
hydroxide required to neutralize the acid present in one gram of a polyol sample.
Functionality and equivalent weight are the other important properties. The functionality
of polyols can be defined as the average number of functional groups reacting with
isocyanate per molecule of polyols. Hydroxyl equivalent weight is the amount in grams
of a sample having one equivalent weight (17.008g) of hydroxyl in the sample. The
equivalent weight can be calculated from the hydroxyl number according to the following
equation
Equivalent weight = 56100/Hydroxyl number
Hydroxyl number (mg KOH/g) is a measure of the amount of reactive hydroxyl
groups available for reaction and is usually reported as milligrams of potassium
hydroxide equivalent to the hydroxyl groups found in one gram of polyols.

1.4 Goals and objectives
Traditionally, polyurethanes are prepared by reacting polyols and diisocyanates.
However, there are concerns about the toxicity of the isocyanates as well as phosgene,
which is used to prepare these isocyanates. Further, the dwindling reserves of petroleum
resources, geopolitical issues and price instability of these basic materials used in the

5

production of polyurethanes are also major concerns. These concerns have led to a high
demand for the use of bio-based resources as alternative starting materials in the
production of polyurethanes.
The overall objective of this research was to investigate the feasibility of using
readily available and relatively cheap soy meal as a starting material to produce soybased urethane polyols for polyurethane. The initial focus was to determine “proof of
concept” of the product and economic feasibility of the process. Upon successful
completion of this work, other specific objectives of this dissertation are to evaluate these
polyols in synthesizing polyurethanes avoiding the toxic isocyanates, as well as
utilization in rigid foam formulations to produce foams with increased bio-based content
and thus reduced carbon footprint.

1.5 PhD dissertation outline
The PhD dissertation thesis outline is divided into a Literature Review section
(Chapter 2) to review the composition, current applications of soy bean meal and to
understand and acquire knowledge regarding the various steps of producing bio-based
polyols from soymeal. The research work that follows contain the synthesis and
characterization of polyurethanes from soymeal polyols by a non-isocyanate route.The
hydroxy-terminated urethane polyols made from soymeal were further reacted with
dimethyl terephthalate in a two-step reaction to obtain polyurethanes without employing
the toxic isocyanate reagent. Glycine, an amino acid found in soy meal, was used as a
model compound in this study for understanding the chemistry and optimize the
preparation process. The structures, morphology, thermal and rheological properties of

6

the intermediates and the products were characterized by 1H NMR, FTIR, acid, amine
and hydroxyl values.
In chapter 3 the developed polyols were further reacted with isocyanates and
evaluated in rigid polyurethane foam formulations. A commercial sucrose based polyol
was used as a reference petroleum-based polyol. Key properties of the PU rigid foams
made with 25% and 50% soymeal polyols such as the density, compressive strength,
compressive strain at yield, friability, water absorption, burning rate and dimensional
stability with aging were analyzed.
In chapter 4, a novel and general spectroscopic method for the determination of
hydroxyl values for a wide range of polyols including soybean oil polyols, polyether
polyols, ethylene glycol etc. is presented. This method is based on reacting the polyols
with hexamethyldisilazane and determining the hydroxyl value from the FTIR peak area
of the silylated product. The accuracy and precision, as well as interferences from acids,
bases and water of the method on the hydroxyl value determination were measured and
compared with the standard titration methods.
In chapter 5, soymeal polyol and castor oil were utilized for synthesizing aqueous
polyurethane dispersions for coating applications on paper and cellophane substrates. The
coatings were further evaluated for various properties using contact angle analysis,
viscosity measurements, scanning electron microscopy, barrier properties against water
vapor and oxygen permeation.
In the last chapter, biodegradability studies that were carried out during the course
of the study on polyvinyl alcohol, soymeal polyol, and castor oil based polyurethane
films according to different standards are reported and discussed .

7

REFERENCES

8

REFERENCES

1. Bayer O (1947) Das Di-Isocyanat-Polyadditionsverfahren (Polyurethane). Angew
Chem 59:257-272
2. Seymour RB, Kauffman GB (1992) Polyurethanes: A Class of Modern Versatile
Materials. J Chem Educ 69:909-910
3. Saunders JH, Frisch KC (1964) Polyurethanes, Chemistry and Technology Part II,
Technology, Interscience Publishers.
4. Oertel G, Abele L (1985) Polyurethane Handbook: Chemistry-Raw MaterialsProcessing-Application-Properties. Hanser Publishers.
5. American Chemistry Council (2012) CPI 2010 End-Use Market Survey on the
Polyurethane Industry
6. American Chemistry Council (2013) 2012 End-Use Market Survey on the
Polyurethanes Industry in the United States, Canada and Mexico
7. Garcia JL, Jang EJ, Alper H (2002) New heterogeneous catalysis for the synthesis
of poly(ether polyol)s. J Appl Polym Sci 86(7):1553-1557
8. Kadkin O, Osajda K, Kaszynski P, Barber TA (2003) Polyester Polyols: Synthesis
and Characterization of Diethylene Glycol Terephthalate Oligomers. J Polym Sci
Part A: Polym Chem 41(8):1114-1123

9

Chapter 2 Synthesis of polyurethanes from soymeal by a non-isocyanate route

Poly(amide-urethane-ester)s were synthesized from renewable soy meal without
employing the typical toxic isocyanate reagent. In this process, soy meal was hydrolyzed
to a mixture of amino acids, which were then condensed with ethylene diamine to
produce amine terminated amide monomers. In a second step, these monomers were
reacted with ethylene carbonate to yield hydroxyl-terminated amide urethanes. These
hydroxyl-terminated urethanes were further reacted with dimethyl terephthalate in an
urethane exchange reaction to obtain poly(amide-urethane-ester)s. Glycine, an amino
acid found in soy meal, was used as a model compound for this study for understanding
the chemistry and developing the process. The structures, properties of the intermediates
and products were characterized by 1H NMR, FTIR, acid, amine and hydroxyl values,
and the key thermal, rheological, morphological properties of the polymers were
analyzed. The polymers obtained were amorphous and thermally stable up to 270 °C.

2.1 Introduction
Polyurethanes are one of the most versatile polymeric materials available today.
They have a wide range of applications in industries such as flexible foams in upholstered
furniture, rigid insulation foams in walls and roofs, thermoplastic materials used in
medical devices and footwear, coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers used on floors
and automotive interiors[1]. Polyurethanes are usually synthesized by the reaction
between diols and diisocyanates. Isocyanates are commercially prepared by the reaction
of amines with phosgene. Although this reaction is convenient and widely used in the

10

industry, issues related to handling of phosgene gas, its hazardous and toxicity
characteristics as well as its corrosiveness are problematic [2,3]. Consequently, various
non-isocyanate routes for synthesizing polyurethanes gained momentum in the last few
decades. In particular, the reactive applications of cyclic alkylene carbonates have been
the subject of considerable research. Alkylene carbonates react with aliphatic diamines to
give difunctional hydroxyalkyl urethanes, which could replace toxic diisocyanates [4-17].
Furthermore, there is also a growing interest in the manufacture and use of biobased
plastics and products. Switching the petro-fossil carbon feedstock to a bio-renewable
carbon feedstock offers the "value proposition" of a reduced material carbon and
environmental footprint [18,19]. The increasing awareness about environmentally
friendly materials produced from annually renewable biodegradable resources have led to
intensified research for the development of plastics from soy based materials. Soybean oil
based polyols are available in the polyurethane market and much work has been
published in the literature regarding synthesis of polyurethanes utilizing these polyols
[20,21]. Huafeng et al. [22] proposed blending soy protein isolate with waterborne
polyurethane through casting and evaporation methods to produce films with improved
water resistance and flexibility. The bulk of the soy meal is utilized as animal feed, soy
protein is also used in human nutrition. Inspite of this, the proportion of soy protein
availability is high and there is a need to look into the alternative industrial uses of soy
protein [23]. However to the best of our knowledge, no other studies are available in the
literature utilizing soybean meal as a renewable biomass resource for synthesizing
polyurethanes.

11

This chapter reports a novel route to the synthesis of biobased poly(amideurethane-ester)s from soy meal by a non-isocyanate route. Hydrolysis of soy proteins to
individual amino acids or low molecular weight peptides[24-28], amidation of the
hydrolyzed product mixture with ethylene diamine, urethane monomer synthesis by
reacting the aminated hydrolyzate with cyclic ethylene carbonate and reaction of the
resulting hydroxyl-terminated urethanes with dimethyl terepthalate in a final two step
reaction were the steps involved in the synthesis of poly(amide-urethane-ester)s from soy
meal. In order to gain insight into the chemistry of the process and better understand the
reaction mechanism, glycine, a common amino acid found in soy proteins, was used as a
model compound. The overall objective was to investigate the feasibility of using soy
meal to produce biobased poly(amide-urethane-ester)s by a non-isocyanate route. The
chemical structures and key properties of all intermediates as well as the final
poly(amide-urethane-ester)s are reported.

2.2 Literature review
2.2.1 Utilization of soybean
Soybeans, which are abundantly available, low in cost and often referred to as the
miracle crop, can provide a sustainable and alternative source to petrochemicals. Soy is
grown throughout the world and soybean production has increased more than 500% in
the last forty years [29]. The typical composition of soybeans is given in Figure 2.1. A
mature soybean consists of about 38% protein, 30% carbohydrates, 18% oil and 14%
moisture, ash and hull [30]. Soybean composed of both protein and oil can open the door
for a variety of uses. Soybean processors can divide soy’s components into soy protein

12

(soybean meal) and soy oil. Soy oil can be extracted from the bean either by mechanical
pressing or using solvent extraction methods. Soy oil constituting around 18% of
soybeans has already made its way into the polyol market. Soy oil based polyols are also
commercially available in the polyurethane market and more and more researchers and
companies are getting into this area. The Dow Chemical Company, Biobased
Technologies®, Arkema Inc., Cognis Oleochemicals and Urethane Soy Systems are
some of the leading companies along with other smaller independent companies in the
U.S. with research programs on soy based polyols. Academic research based on soybean
oil and polyurethane development includes the laboratories of Dr. J. Massingill (Texas
State University), R.P.Wool (University of Delaware), Z. Petrovic (Pittsburg State
University), R. Larock (Iowa State University), G.Suppes/F. Hsieh (University of
Missouri-Columbia) and G.Wilkes (Virginia Tech. University).

Figure 2.1: Composition of Soybeans

Soybean meal is the product remaining after extracting most of the oil from whole
soybeans. Soybean meal which comprises up to 80% of the soybeans, is high in protein
content and primarily serves as animal diet for pig, chicken, cattle, horse, sheep and fish

13

feed. Currently, only a small percentage of the soybean meal is being utilized for
industrial purposes, mainly for synthesis of adhesives, insectides, paints, paper coatings,
fire-resistant coatings, cosmetics, printing inks and emulsions [31].
2.2.2 Hydrolysis of soy proteins
The hydrolysis of proteins, including soy proteins, to amino acids by acid
hydrolysis is a well known process. Generally, the hydrolysis proceeds smoothly
provided a sufficient amount of water is present. The hydrolysis rate depends on the
temperature, pH, the size of anion (or cation) and the concentrations of additives that are
be used. Standard hydrolysis procedures involve 24 hours of acid hydrolysis using 6 M
HCl at 110○C [32-34], although other acids, such as ethanesulfonic acid and ptoluenesulfonic acid, have also been used. The effect of hydrolysis time (16-72 h) has
been studied on soy proteins and its effect on the release of amino acids as well as the
composition of the hydrolyzed product mixture as these hydrolysis products are widely
used in animal nutrition [35]. The effect of acid concentration on the hydrolysis of soy
protein and the composition of the released amino acid has also been investigated [36]
and it was found that there was no indication of any degradation during hydrolysis
provided 9 molar HCl or less was used. If however, higher concentrations of HCl were
used (e.g. 12M), some of the amino acids (primarily threonine) were degraded and the
extent of the degradation was directly proportional to the hydrolysis time. Typically, the
acid hydrolysis product mixture in this process ends up as the chloride salt of the amine.
The composition of the individual amino acids from the acid hydrolysis is listed in Table
2.1 [37].

14

Schematically (Figure 2.2), the hydrolysis breaks up the amide bonds between the
primary amide linkages of the protein as well as the secondary, tertiary and quarterly
linkages (e.g. intramolecular hydrogen bonds, disulfide bonds, and ionic interactions)
between the protein molecules. The end result is a mixture of small molecular weight
peptides and individual amino acids
Table 2.1: Composition of amino acids
Nutrient

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18

Arginine
Histidine
Isoleucine
Leucine
Lysine
Methionine
Cystine
Phenylalanine
Tyrosine
Tyrptophan
Threonine
Valine
Aspartic acid
Serine
Glutamic acid
Proline
Glycine
Alanine

Soybean Meal Soy Protein
(dehulled)
Concentrate
3.56
1.29
2.16
3.67
2.97
0.65
0.76
2.43
1.70
0.61
1.83
2.31
5.29
2.26
8.59
2.37
1.97
2.07

Amino Acids %
4.68
1.74
2.94
4.97
4.08
0.90
1.07
3.24
2.29
0.83
2.55
3.15
7.16
3.11
11.53
3.24
2.68
2.81

Figure 2.2. Schematic representation of soy proteins containing functional side
groups
15

It should also be mentioned here that soy protein, either as defatted flours, grits,
meal, concentrate, or isolates can be used in this hydrolysis process, although each of
these grades contains different amounts of proteins, fibers, lecithin, fat,
carbohydrates, ash, and moisture. Accordingly, the cost of the process, which depends
on the grade of the starting proteins, will increase in proportion to the purity of the
starting materials.

2.2.3 Protection of carboxylic acid groups
Close examination of the amino acid composition reveals that several amino acids
(aspartic acid, threonine, cysteine, glutamic acid, serine and tyrosine) contain more than
one carboxylic acid. Indeed, other amino acids contain several amines and only a single
carboxylic group (argintine, lysine, tryptophan and histidine). After the hydrolysis, the
carboxylic acids of each amino acid must be protected or converted to other functional
groups so that they will not interfere in the subsequent reactions. There are several
examples in the literature of methods to achieve this task; one such example [38] is to
react the amino acid mixture with trimethylchlorosilane. Another example is to esterify
the carboxylic acid of the amino acids with an alcohol to yield the corresponding alkyl
esters [39] respectively. It is apparent that some of these protection schemes are not
useful commercially and/or are too expensive. For example, using trimethylchlorosilane
is a fast and convenient reaction but it yields a Si-O-C bonds which are hydrolytically
unstable. The by-product, HCl, also reacts with the amino group to yield the chloride salt,
which would negatively impact subsequent reactions of the amine.

16

The amination of the carboxylic acid could also be achieved using carbodiimides
in water [40, 41]. Under these mild conditions the reaction could proceed in the water
phase, eliminating the need to distill out the water from the hydrolysis step. This
amination of carboxylic groups is widely used in biochemistry “to convert the carboxylic
groups into more potent nucleophile and at the same time provides an extended arm from
the protein to avoid steric hinderance”. It has also been used to change the surface
chemistry of solid particles for protein immobilization. Thus,

1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethyl

aminopropyl)-carbodiimide (EDC) was reacted with the hydrolyzed soy protein water
solution after the pH was adjusted to 4.5-5.0 as required for this reaction. Although this
method of protecting and converting the carboxylic groups appeared successful, the
relatively high expense associated with the EDC reagent did not justify its use.

2.2.4 Synthesis of hydroxy-terminated urethane polyols
Carbamates are known protecting groups in organic chemistry, and in particular in
peptide synthesis [42-44] where they are generally obtained by the reaction of various
amines with an alkyl chloroformate in the presence of a base [45,46] or a Lewis acid
[47,48]. Carbamates, also called urethanes are the monomers of polyurethanes. The
conversion of the amine functional hydrolyzed product mixture to carbamates [49] was
achieved by reacting it with methyl chloroformate using zinc as a catalyst (Figure 2.3).

Figure 2.3: Synthesis of methyl carbamate

17

Methyl chloroformate is a highly reactive reagent. Its reaction with amine is fast,
usually completed in a few minutes at room temperature with a wide choice of catalysts.
However, it has been found that extreme care must be taken to chelate and capture the
HCl that is released in the course of the reaction. Otherwise, HCl will react with the
amine functional proteins to yield chloride salts which will cause it to precipitate from
the solution and prevents any further reaction. It was found that this premature
precipitation and salt formation can be avoided by using a chelating agent (pyridine or
zinc powder appeared to work fine) and, most importantly, by adding the amine
functional reagent dropwise to a solution of methyl chloroformate containing the
chelating agent. This way, the amine is reacted with the chloroformate and any HCl byproduct is captured by the chelating agent. If, however, the chloroformate is added to the
amine reagent, the HCl by-product will react with the amine instead of being removed by
the chelating agent.

Figure 2.4: Conversion of peptide-carbamates to hydroxy pre-polymers &
polyurethanes

18

L. Ubags [50] reported that polyurethanes can be synthesized by polycondensation of
bis(phenyl carbamate)s with ethylene glycol. This procedure can be applied to the
carbamate produced from the previous reactions mentioned above and polyol terminated
urethane prepolymers can be achieved by exchanging the methoxide group on the
carbamate with ethylene glycol as depicted in Figure 2.4.
During the course of this study, it was realized that hydroxy-terminated urethane
monomers can be synthesized in a much more direct way than in the methods mentioned
above: by reacting diamines with ethylene carbonates. Rokicki and Piotrowska [51]
investigated the reaction of diamines with ethylene carbonate to synthesize hydroxyterminated urethane monomers finding that it can be done at much milder conditions
(room temperature, no catalyst required) and the reaction can be monitored by the
disappearance of the C=O stretch of ethylene carbonate at 1800 cm-1 using FTIR. The
usage of cyclic carbonates as alternative materials for synthesizing polyurethanes by
isocyanate-free routes is widely reported in the literature [52-55].
2.3 Materials and methods
Glycine (Gly), ethylene diamine (ED), ethylene carbonate (EC), titanium (1V)
butoxide Ti(OBu)4 and dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) as well as all the reagents required
for the titrations (e.g. butanol, pyridine, acetic anhydride, hydrochloric acid, potassium
hydroxide, sodium hydroxide, phenolphthalein and bromophenol blue) were purchased
from Sigma Aldrich. Defatted soy meal (SMS) was obtained from Zeeland farms,
Michigan. All chemicals were used as received unless otherwise noted.

19

2.3.1 Measurements
Proton-nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) spectra were recorded on a 500
MHz NMR spectrometer (Varian Inc., USA, Unity Plus 500MHz) using the solvent peak
as an internal standard.
The attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectra were
acquired on a FT-IR (Shimadzu Co., Tokyo, Japan, IRAffinity-1) equipped with a single
reflection ATR system (PIKE Technologies, Madison, USA, MIRacle ATR).
Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements were performed using DSC
Q2000 TA Instruments under nitrogen flow. To determine the thermal property profile, a
sample (5-10 mg placed in an aluminium pan) was heated up to 200 °C at 10 °C/min,
held at this temperature for 3 min to remove the thermal history, then cooled to -70 °C at
10 °C/min and finally heated again to 200 °C at 10 °C/min. The glass transition
temperature Tg was determined from the inflection point from the second heating scan.
Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) measurements were conducted under nitrogen
flow using a Hi-Res TGA 2950 apparatus from TA Instruments. In a typical experiment,
a sample (10-20 mg placed in an aluminium pan) was heated up to 550 °C at 10 °C/min
in a nitrogen atmosphere. The characteristic degradation temperature was taken as the
maximum temperature of the derivative thermogram (DTG) curve (Tdmax) for each
degradation step.
Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) was performed using a TA Q800 instrument,
samples evaluated using a three point bend geometry at a constant frequency of 1 H z,
scanning rate of 4 °C/min from 23°C to 150°C providing measurements of storage
modulus (G’) and loss modulus (G”) as a function of temperature.

20

Viscosity measurements were made with an ARES – G2 Rheometer using parallelplate geometry with diameter 25.4 mm in a frequency/temperature sweep test type.
Transmission electron microscopy was performed using a JEOL 2200FS 200 k V
field emission transmission electron microscope (TEM).
Acid values (mgKOH/g) were determined in accordance with ASTM D1980-87
[56]. Samples were dissolved in water and were then titrated with 0.2N KOH in water in
the presence of phenolphthalein as the indicator. Amine values (mgKOH/g) were
determined in accordance with ASTM D2073-92 [57]. Samples were dissolved in water
and were then titrated with freshly standardized 0.2N HCl in water by using bromophenol
blue solution as indicator. Hydroxyl values were determined in accordance with ASTM
D1957-86 [58]. Samples were dissolved in pyridine containing acetic anhydride solution
and boiled using a steam bath for 2 hours. The solution was then cooled down with
distilled water. The remaining acetic anhydride was thus transformed into acetic acid.
Butanol was added to the solution and the remaining acetic acid was titrated back with
freshly standardized 0.2N KOH in methanol using phenolphthalein as the indicator.

2.4 Experimental procedures
2.4.1 Synthesis of aminated glycine (Gly-ED)
Glycine (200.86 g, 2.67 mol) and an excess of ED (798.27 g, 13.28 mol) were
charged into a polycondensation reactor (PAAR, Serie 4530, 2000 mL) equipped with a
mechanical stirrer, a thermocouple, a nitrogen inlet and a Dean-Stark trap. The mixture
was first flushed with nitrogen for 20 min. The temperature of the reaction mixture was
initially raised to 150°C under a pressure of 150 psi for 1 hour and then the reaction was

21

run at a temperature of 110°C under atmospheric pressure for 5 more hours under
nitrogen. Samples were taken out periodically and were analyzed by titration (acid and
amine values). The final reaction mixture was then precipitated in tetrahydrofuran (THF)
and then washed thrice with THF to obtain a pure aminated glycine product (Gly-ED)
which was further analyzed by FTIR, acid and amine value titrations..
2.4.2 Synthesis of hydroxy-terminated urethane monomers (Gly-OH)
Gly-OH was synthesized in the same vessel used for the synthesis of Gly-ED. In a
typical procedure, Gly-ED monomer (75.5 g, amine value = 825.95 mgKOH/g) was
heated at 80°C, EC (98.9 g, 1.12 mol) that was previously melted in an oven at 60 °C for
2 h, was then charged into the vessel. The ratio of total amine equivalents to the total
carbonate equivalents was kept close to 1. The reaction was carried out in the bulk at
80°C for 2 hours under a nitrogen atmosphere. The final material Gly-OH was analyzed
by titration (amine, acid and hydroxyl values), 1H NMR and FTIR.

Figure 2.5: Synthesis of hydroxyl terminated (amide - urethane) oligomers from
glycine

2.4.3 Synthesis of poly(amide-urethane-ester)s from glycine (Gly-OH-DMT[P])
The preparation of Gly-OH-DMT[P] consists of two steps : (a) the first step
afforded the transesterification of Gly-OH with Dimethyl terepthalate (DMT). Gly-OH

22

(99.8 g, 0.67 molar eqv.), DMT (59.2 g 0.3 mol) added as a melt and titanium (1V)
butoxide (2.9 g, 1.8 wt%) as catalyst were added to the reactor which was pre-heated to a
temperature of 150oC. The ratio of OH/esters was kept at 1:0.9. The reaction was then
continued for 5 hours at a temperature of 150 - 155 oC under nitrogen flow. After the first
step, a vacuum of 50 – 10 mbar was applied gradually. The by-product of the
transesterification reaction, methanol, was collected in the arm of the Dean-Stark
condenser. Samples (SMS-OH-DMT) were taken for FTIR and hydroxyl value titrations.
(b) The second step was applied to continue the urethane-exchange reaction by
removing ethylene glycol as a by-product to achieve a higher molecular weight. The
temperature of the reactor was maintained at 200 - 210oC under a vacuum pressure of 250
pascals. The reaction was continued for a total time of 5 hours and the evolved ethylene
glycol was collected in the Dean-Stark condenser. Samples (GLY-OH-DMT[P]) were
collected at regular time intervals for analysis. Pure hydroxyl-terminated poly(amideurethane-ester)s were obtained by dissolving the reaction mixture in DMSO, then
precipitating it in de-ionized water, followed by washing twice and drying overnight.

23

H3CO
O

O

O

O
H
N

HO
O

O

O

160oC

O
HO

O

Ti(OBu)4

N
H

O

O

O

O
H
N

O

N
H

N
H

N
H

O

O

O

H
N

210oC

O

N
H

O

O

OCH3

HO

OH

N
H

O

O

O

O

O

O

H
N

N
H

N
H

O

O

OH

CH3OH

vacuum

O
O
O

O

O
H
N

O

OH

N
H

N
H

O

HO
OH

O

O

n

m

Figure 2.6: Synthesis of poly(amide-urethane-ester)s using dimethyl terephthalate

24

2.4.4 Acid hydrolysis of soy meal
Soy meal (1250 g) was added to a 12 L three necked round bottom flask fitted
with a mechanical stirrer, condenser and then hydrolyzed using 5 L of 3 N HCl under
continuous stirring at a temperature of 100oC for 45 hours. After the hydrolysis, the
mixture was neutralized by adding NaOH solution (36%). The final pH of the mixture
was 4.3. The insoluble part was then filtered and removed, which represented 25% of the
initial weight on a dry basis. The neutralized soy hydrolyzate (SMS) was then distilled
under vacuum at a temperature of 80oC to remove water (3.68 L) from the system.
2.4.5 Amination of soy hydrolyzate
The concentrated soy hydrolyzate (4.33 Kg) was then reacted with excess ED
(1.62 Kg) and this condensation reaction was carried out under continuous stirring at a
temperature of 110oC for 6 hours. After the completion of the reaction, the aminated
hydrolyzate (SMS-ED) mixture was distilled under vacuum to remove excess ED and
water. Samples were collected and analyzed by amine value, acid value titrations and
FTIR.
2.4.6 Synthesis of hydroxyl-terminated urethanes from soymeal
The aminated hydrolyzate (SMS-ED) (2.53 Kg, 21.8 amine equivalents) was
reacted with ethylene carbonate (1.92 Kg, 21.8 moles) under continuous stirring at a
temperature of 80oC for 3 hours. After the completion of the reaction, the product (SMSOH) was then analyzed by acid value, amine value, hydroxyl value titrations and FTIR.
2.4.7 Poly(amide-urethane-ester)s from soymeal (SMS-OH-DMT[P])
The preparation of SMS-OH-DMT[P] consists of two steps: (a) the first step
afforded the transesterification of SMS-OH with Dimethyl terepthalate (DMT). SMS-OH

25

(450.36 g, 2.6 molar eqv.), DMT (185.4 g 1.9 mol) added as a melt and titanium (1V)
butoxide (10.94 g, 1.7 wt%) as catalyst were added to the reactor which was pre-heated to
a temperature of 150oC. The ratio of OH/esters was

1:0.7. The reaction was then

continued for a total reaction time of 4 hours under nitrogen flow. After the first step, a
vacuum of 50 – 10 mbar was applied gradually. The by-product of the transesterification
reaction, methanol, was collected in the arm of the Dean-Stark condenser. Samples were
taken for FTIR and hydroxyl value titrations.
(b) the second step was applied to continue the urethane-exchange reaction by
removing ethylene glycol as a by-product to achieve a higher molecular weight. The
temperature of the reactor was maintained at 200oC under a vacuum pressure of 230
pascals. The reaction was continued for a total time of 6 hours and the evolved ethylene
glycol was collected in the Dean-Stark condenser. Samples were collected at regular time
intervals for analysis. Purification procedures were similar to the poly(amide-urethaneester)s obtained from glycine.

2.5 Results and discussion
2.5.1 Synthesis of hydroxyl-terminated amide urethane monomers
The synthesis of hydroxyl-terminated amide urethane monomers from amino
acids was guided by two basic steps: protecting the carboxylic groups by reacting them
with ethylene diamine to form an amide linkage and reacting the terminal amines with
ethylene carbonate to yield hydroxyl terminated amide urethane monomers as shown in
Figure 2.5. The protection of carboxylic groups in glycine to yield the desired aminoamide (Gly-ED) was confirmed by ATR-FTIR as shown in Figure 2.7.

26

Significant changes from glycine (A) to Gly-ED (B) spectra were the appearance
of the new peak at 1651 cm-1 corresponding to the C=O deformation and a shift in the NH stretch of the primary amine at 1500 cm-1 to 1535 cm-1, which is attributed to the
transformation of amine in amide. The results were further confirmed by amine and acid
values as presented in Table 2.2. It should be noted that although the experimental amine
and acid values of the model amino acid compound glycine were lower than the expected
values, this is undoubtedly due to the zwitterion structure of glycine. The acid value (0
mgKOH/g) of Gly-ED testified that no free carboxylic groups were present in the
product. A significant increase in the amine value (825.95 mgKOH/g) was observed after
the reaction with ethylene diamine to convert the carboxylic acid groups to amides and
produce the diamine derivative (Gly-ED). The ratio between the experimental and the
calculated amine value indicated that the conversion of glycine to Gly-ED was 86.25%.
Gly-ED was then reacted with ethylene carbonate to yield Gly-OH.

C=O
Urethane

Intensity (U.A.)

D

C

N-H
amide

C=O
Amide

C-O
Amide

B

-

COO

N-H
amine
I

COO-

A

1800

1700

1600

1500

1400

1300

1200

Wavenumber (cm-1)

Figure 2.7: ATR-FTIR of (A) Gly, (B) Gly-ED, (C) Gly-OH and (D) the final
polymer

27

Table 2.2: End group analysis of PU and its intermediates synthesized from glycine
Amine value
(mgKOH/g)

Acid value
(mgKOH/g)

Hydroxyl value
(mgKOH/g)

Calc.

Exp.

Calc.

Exp.

Calc.

Exp.

Glycine

747.30

60.85 ± 1.6

747.30

18.33 ± 0.4

-

-

Gly-ED

957.58

825.95 ± 2.8

0

0

-

-

Gly-OH

0

37.72 ± 2.2

0

0

383.71

377.55 ± 2.4

Gly-OH-DMT

0

-

0

-

-

164.66± 0.3

Gly-OH-DMT[P]

0

-

0

-

-

12.24± 2.6

28

The ATR-FTIR of this hydroxyl-terminated monomer is presented in Figure 2.7. The
formation of urethane in this reaction was confirmed by the appearance of a peak
corresponding to C=O stretching of urethane groups at 1697 cm-1. 1H NMR spectrum of
Gly-OH is shown in Figure 2.8 which further confirms these results. The appearance of
peaks at 4.21 ppm and 4.16 ppm are characteristic of the ethylene protons obtained from
the ring opening reaction of ethylene carbonate with the amine groups. The peaks at 3.37
and 3.28 correspond to the protons near the nitrogen atoms. The yield of the reaction of
ethylene carbonate with the GLY-ED was found to be 96% by dividing the area under the
peak of the unreacted ethylene carbonate at 4.64 ppm and the summation of all peaks due
to the reacted ethylene carbonate at 4.21 ppm, 4.16 ppm and 3.68 ppm respectively. The
amine and hydroxyl values of Gly-OH are presented in Table 2.2. A comparison of the
amine values of Gly-ED and Gly-OH, shows a decrease in the amine values from 825.95
mgKOH/g to 37.72 mgKOH/g indicating essentially complete reaction of GLY-ED with
ethylene carbonate. The conversion of amine groups to urethane hydroxyl-terminated
groups equals 95.4% which matches with the results (96%) obtained from the 1H NMR.
The experimental hydroxyl value obtained was 377.55 mgKOH/g, which was also very
close to the expected value (387.71 mgKOH/g).

29

Figure 2.8: 1H NMR of Gly-OH

The hydrolysis of soy meal to cleave the amide linkages in the proteins to
individual amino acids was done using 3N HCl at a temperature of 100oC for 45 hours.
The rate of hydrolysis is directly proportional to the temperature and the concentration of
the acid in the system. The temperature of the reaction can be increased above 100oC by
running the hydrolysis under pressure. However, it is well known that excessive
temperature (as well as excessive concentrations of acid) leads to the degradation of
amino acids. Therefore relatively mild conditions and long reaction times were used to
ensure complete hydrolysis and minimum degradation of the resulting amino acids. The
composition of the amino acids from the hydrolysis of the soy proteins is well known
[59]. The soy protein hydrolyzate (SMS) as analyzed by FTIR in Figure 2.9 shows a peak
at 1625 cm-1 which is typical of the C=O stretch of carboxylic acids in the amino acid
mixture. The amine and acid values of SMS as shown in Table 2.3 do not match with the
calculated values, this is most likely due to the zwitterionic nature of the amino acids.
The protection of carboxylic groups in the hydrolyzate by ethylene diamine to yield the

30

amino-amides (SMS-ED) was confirmed by FTIR in Figure 2.9. A significant change
observed from SMS to SMS-ED spectrum was the shift in the C=O stretch from 1625 cm1

to 1656 cm-1. The new peak at 1583 cm-1 was typical of the N-H bend of amides.

The aminated hydrolyzate (SMS-ED) was further analyzed by acid and amine
value titrations as shown in Table 2.3. A significant increase in the amine value (484.2
mgKOH/g) was observed, followed by a decrease in the acid value (14.1 mgKOH/g),
indicating the amidation of the carboxylic groups by the addition of ethylene diamine.
SMS-ED was then reacted with ethylene carbonate to yield SMS-OH. The ATR-FTIR of
this hydroxyl-terminated urethane compound is shown in Figure 2.9. The formation of
urethane in this reaction was confirmed by the appearance of a peak corresponding to the
C=O stretch of the urethane groups at 1697 cm-1. The decrease in the amine value (59.8
mgKOH/g) followed by hydroxyl value (324.18 mgKOH/g) signifies the conversion of
amines to hydroxyl-terminated urethane monomers.

Absorbance

E
D
C

B
A
1800

1700

1600

1500

1400

-1

Wave number [cm ]

Figure 2.9: FTIR data of (A) SMS, (B) SMS-ED, (C) SMS-OH, (D) SMS-OH-DMT,
(E) SMS-OH-DMT[P]
31

Table 2.3: End group analysis of PU and its intermediates synthesized from soy meal
Amine value
Acid value
Hydroxyl value
(mgKOH/g)
(mgKOH/g)
(mgKOH/g)
Calc.

Exp.

Cal.

Exp.

Calc.

Exp.

SMS

483.7

33.7± 0.8

549.4

64.9± 1.2

-

-

SMS-ED

726.7

484.2± 2.3

0

14.1± 3.1

-

-

SMS-OH

0

59.8± 3.1

0

15.8± 0.2

456.23

324.18± 2.1

SMS-OH-DMT

0

-

0

-

-

263.56± 3.6

SMS-OH-DMT[P]

0

-

0

-

-

39.4± 2.4

32

2.5.2 Synthesis of poly(amide-urethane-ester)s
The synthesis of Poly(amide-urethane-ester)s was accomplished by reacting the
hydroxyl-terminated amide urethane monomers with dimethyl terephthalate using
titanium (1V) butoxide as a catalyst in a two step reaction. In the first step, an excess of
hydroxyl-terminated amide urethane monomers was reacted with dimethyl terephthalate
to produce intermediate oligomers yielding methanol as the by-product. These
intermediate oligomers were further transesterified in the second step under high
temperature and vacuum conditions to obtain high molecular weight poly(amideurethane-ester)s by removing ethylene glycol as a by-product (Figure 2.6). In the reaction
using the model compound glycine, Gly-OH was reacted with DMT using titanium (1V)
butoxide as catalyst to obtain intermediate oligomers (Gly-OH-DMT) in the first step.
ATR-FTIR of Gly-OH-DMT is shown in Figure 2.7. A shift in the C=O stretch at 1697
cm-1 typical of urethanes to 1709 cm-1 typical of C=O stretch of esters was observed
followed by a decrease in the intensity of the O-H stretch peak at 3300 cm-1. Similarly, a
decrease in the hydroxyl values (Table 2.2) of Gly-OH from 377.55 mgKOH/g to 164.66
mgKOH/g of Gly-OH-DMT was determined that indicates the conversion of OH groups
to esters by a transesterification reaction between DMT and Gly-OH. The FTIR of the
Gly-OH-DMT[P] was similar to the one of Gly-OH-DMT; however, a decrease in the
intensity of the peaks at 1709 cm-1

and 3300 cm-1

was observed. The lower

concentration of hydroxyl groups as a result of removal of ethylene glycol was further
confirmed by the hydroxyl value (12.24 mgKOH/g) as listed in Table 2.2. The theoretical
molecular weight based on the hydroxyl value was calculated to be around 9250 g/mol

33

with a degree of polymerization (DPn) equal to 13 (Table 2.4 and Figure 2.10). By
applying the equation of Carother’s, the conversion obtained was 92%.
Table 2.4: Mw of Gly-OH-DMT[P] as a function of OH values
OH values
DPn
Mw
(mgKOH/g)
1
716.68
156.55
2
1371.29
81.82
3
2087.97
53.74
4
2804.65
40.00
5
3521.33
31.86
6
4238.01
26.47
7
4954.69
22.65
8
5671.37
19.78
9
6388.05
17.56
10
7104.73
15.79
11
7821.41
14.35
12
8538.09
13.14
13
9254.77
12.12
14
9971.45
11.25
15
10688.13
10.50
180.00

Hydroxyl Values [mgKOH/g]

160.00
140.00
120.00
100.00
80.00
60.00
40.00
20.00
0.00
0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

Calculated Mw

Figure 2.10: Mw of Gly-OH-DMT[P] as a function of OH values
The FTIR of SMS-OH-DMT is shown in Figure 2.9. Peak shifts similar to the one
obtained in the case of Gly-OH-DMTP were observed, a shift in the C=O stretch at 1695
cm-1 to 1714 cm-1. The hydroxyl value decreased from 324.18 mgKOH/g to 263.56

34

mgKOH/g (Table 2.3) indicating a decrease in the OH groups of SMS-OH upon the
transesterification reaction with DMT. The FTIR spectrum of SMS-OH-DMT[P] was
similar to the intermediate SMS-OH-DMT and no peak shifts were observed except for
the decrease in the intensity of the peaks, similar to the results obtained from the model
compound glycine. A decrease in the hydroxyl value as shown in Table 2.3 from 263.56
mgKOH/g to 39.4 mgKOH/g as a result of removal of ethylene glycol due to the
urethane-exchange reaction, also indicating an increase in the molecular weight.
The thermal stability of the prepared poly(amide-urethane-ester)s was determined
by TGA. From Figure 2.11, it is clear that both the poly(amide-urethane-ester)s were
thermally stable up to 240 oC. Td 5% and Tdmax for SMS-OH-DMT[P] were 265.2 oC and
378.48 oC, respectively. Similarly Td 5% and Tdmax for Gly-OH-DMT[P] were 276.2 oC
and 379.66 oC, respectively The thermal stability of Gly-OH-DMT[P] was slightly higher
than SMS-OH-DMT[P].

1.0

Weight [%]

0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
B
0.5
A
0.4
0

100

200

300

400

500

600

Temperature [oC]

Figure 2.11: TGA of PU from (A) glycine and (B) soy meal
35

The glass transition temperatures Tg were measured by DSC (curves A and B in
Figure 2.12). The Tg of Gly-OH-DMT[P] and SMS-OH-DMT[P] were 123.59 oC and
103.06 oC, respectively. No crystallization peak (or melting peak) was observed and only
a glass transition was observed in both the polymers, thus indicating that they were
totally amorphous.
The temperature dependency of the modulus of the polyurethane materials was
studied by DMA. The storage modulus (G’) and loss modulus (G”) curves for Gly-OHDMT[P] and SMS-OH-DMT[P] are shown in Figure 2.13 and Figure 2.14, respectively.
The temperature at which the maximum G” is reached in the loss modulus curve indicates
the glass transition (Tg) at which the polymer turns from a glassy material into a viscous
material. The Tg of the Gly-OH-DMT[P] observed here was 124.64 oC, which agreed
with the value detected by the DSC (123.59 oC). Similarly, the Tg of the SMS-OHDMT[P] observed at the maximum loss modulus temperature of 101.67 oC, was very
close to the value obtained from the DSC (103.06 oC).
-0.5

Heat flow [J/g]

-1.0

-1.5
B
-2.0

-2.5
A

-3.0
-80

-40

0

40

80

120

160

200

Temperature [oC]

Figure 2.12: DSC of PU from (A) glycine and (B)
soy meal

36

5000

450

4500

G'

400
350

3500

300

3000
250
2500
200
2000
150

1500

100

G''

1000

Loss modulus [MPa]

Storage modulus [MPa]

4000

50

500
0

0
25

45

65

85

105

125

145

Temperature [oC]

Figure 2.13: Storage (G') and loss modulus (G'') of PU from glycine as a function of
temperature

7000

1200

6000

1000

5000

800

4000

600

3000

400

2000

200

G''

1000
25

Loss Modulus [MPa]

Storage Modulus [MPa]

G'

50

75

100

0
125

Temperature [oC]

Figure 2.14: Storage (G') and loss modulus (G'') of PU from soy meal as a function of
temperature

37

5

Log Viscosity [Pa*sec]

4

3

2
Viscosity measured at:
Shear Rate = 10 rad/sec
Temperature = 180 oC

1

0
0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Reaction Time [hrs]

Figure 2.15: Viscosity of PU from glycine as a function of reaction time

Viscosity measurements as a function of shear rate at different temperatures were
run on Gly-OH-DMT[P] and SMS-OH-DMT[P] samples that were collected at different
time intervals during the course of the polymerization reaction. Figure 2.15 and Figure
2.16 show the viscosity of the PU from glycine and soy meal, respectively, plotted
against different reaction times, at a shear rate of 10 rad/sec and at a temperature of 180
o

C. An increase in viscosity was observed in both the cases with an increase in molecular

weight as ethylene glycol was distilled out in the polycondensation reaction. The
viscosity of the polymers from glycine and soy meal were examined using the Power
Law (or Ostwald) Model:
η = Kγ n-1
where η is the viscosity, K is the consistency coefficient, n is the Power Law Index and γ
is the shear rate. the viscosity at 180 oC under different shear rates is shown in Figure
2.17. It was observed that while both the polymers exhibited pseudoplasticity, the PU

38

from glycine had a higher viscosity than the soy meal-based polymer over the measured
range of shear rates and temperature; it was also significantly more shear-thinning (lower
Power Law Index).
3.5

log Viscosity [Pa*sec]

3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5

Viscosity measured at:
Shear Rate=10rad/sec
Temperature = 170 ○C

1.0
0.5
0.0
0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Reaction Time [hrs]

Figure 2.16: Viscosity of PU from soy meal as a function of reaction time

6.0
A: K - 1.0 x 106 Pa*sec; Power Law Index - 0.45

Log Viscosity [Pa*sec]

5.5
5.0
4.5
4.0
3.5

B: K - 3.6 x 103 Pa*sec; Power Law Index - 0.67

3.0
2.5

Temperature - 180 oC

2.0
1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

Log Shear rate [1/sec]

Figure 2.17: Log viscosity Vs log shear rate chart of PUs from glycine (A) and soy
meal (B) at a temperature of 180 oC

39

The morphology of the polymers as observed by TEM is shown in Figure 2.18.
As reported in the literature, polyurethanes typically show phase distinctions between soft
and hard chain segments [60]. It is apparent from the images in Figure 2.18 that here too,
a distinct phase separation is observed where the rigid phase is randomly separated and
dispersed in the soft phase throughout the matrix. This phase separation morphology is
expected since the methyl phthalates in the PU constitute the hard segments and the alkyl
groups are associated with the soft segments. The rigid segments appear to have a typical
spherical/elliptical nature randomly distributed throughout the soft phase matrix. The
interactions of the rigid segments were localized and very few. This was further
collaborated by the DSC data showing a broad glass transition temperature and the
absence of a melting point, which indicate the absence of crystallinity and structural
regularity in the polymer.

Figure 2.18: TEM images of PU synthesized from glycine (left) and soy meal (right)
showing the phase separation between soft and hard segments

2.6 Conclusions
This chapter reports on the first synthesis of biobased poly(amide-urethane-ester)s
from the renewable source soy meal through a non-isocyanate route. Glycine, an amino

40

acid found in soy meal, was used as a model compound for this study. The products and
its intermediates analyzed by acid value, amine value, OH value titrations, FTIR, 1H
NMR at various stages confirm the synthesis. Similar procedures were followed for the
synthesis of poly(amide-urethane-ester)s from soymeal. However it necessitated an
additional acid hydrolysis step for the breakdown of soy proteins to amino acids. In both
cases, the final poly(amide-urethane-ester)s were further analyzed for their thermal and
rheological properties. The polymers were amorphous and thermally stable up to
270°C. The viscosity measurements made on the polymers at regular time intervals
during the course of the polycondensation reaction with dimethyl terephthalate indicated
an increase in viscosity with reaction time. However, the estimation of molecular weight
based on the end group analysis using OH values indicated the formation of low
molecular weight polymers. Of particular interest noted during the course of this study,
was the synthesis of hydroxyl-terminated amide urethane monomers from soy meal.
These monomers prepared by a “green” environmentally friendly synthetic approach
could find potential applications as polyols and replace the petro-based polyols in many
PU foam applications.

41

REFERENCES

42

REFERENCES

1. Szycher M (1999) Handbook of polyurethanes, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.
2. Wild DM, Redlich CA, Paltiel AD (2005) Surveillance for isocyanate asthma: a
model based cost effectiveness analysis. Occup Environ Med 62:743-749.
3.

Pauluhn J (2000) Acute inhalation toxicity of polymeric diphenyl-methane 4,4'diisocyanate in rats: time course of changes in bronchoalveolar lavage. Arch
Toxicol 74:257-269

4. Assumption HJ, Mathias LJ (2003) Photopolymerization of urethane
dimethacrylates synthesized via a non-isocyanate route. Polymer 44:5131-5136
5. Clark AJ, Echenique J, Haddleton DM, Straw TA, Taylor PC (2001) A
Nonisocyanate Route to Monodisperse Branched Polyurethanes. J Org Chem 66:
8687-8689
6. Clements JH (2003) Reactive Applications of Cyclic Alkylene Carbonates. Ind
Eng Chem Res 42:663-674
7. Deepa P, Jayakannan M (2008) Solvent-free and non-isocyanate melt
transurethane reaction for aliphatic polyurethanes and mechanistic aspects. J
Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46:2445-2458
8. Helou M, Carpentier JF, Guillaume SM (2011) Poly(carbonate-urethane) : an
isocyanate - free procedure from α,ω-di(cyclic carbonate) telechelic
poly(trimethylene carbonate)s. Green Chem 13:266-271
9. Javni I, Doo PH, Petrovic ZS (2008) Soy-based polyurethanes by nonisocyanate
route. J Appl Polym Sci 108:3867-3875
10. Li Z, Zhao Y, Yan S, Wang X, Kang M, Wang J, Xiang H (2008) Catalytic
Synthesis of Carbonated Soybean Oil. Catal Lett 123:246-251
11. Matsumura S, Soeda Y, Toshima K (2006) Perspectives for synthesis and
production of polyurethanes and related polymers by enzymes directed toward
green and sustainable chemistry. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 70:12-20.
12. Ochiai B, Inoue S, Endo T (2005) One - pot non - isocyanate synthesis of
polyurethanes from bisepoxide, carbon dioxide, and diamine. J Polym Sci Part A:
Polym Chem 43:6613-6618

43

13. Oestreich S, Struck S (2002) Additives for UV - curable coatings and inks.
Macromol Symp 187: 333-342
14. Rokicki G, Piotrowska A (2002) A new route to polyurethanes from ethylene
carbonate, diamines and diols. Polymer 43:2927-2935
15. Tamami B, Sohn S, Wilkes GL (2004) Incorporation of carbon dioxide into
soybean oil and subsequent preparation and studies of nonisocyanate
polyurethane networks. J Appl Polym Sci 92:883-891
16. Yokoe M, Keigo AOI, Okada M (2003) Biodegradable polymers based on
renewable resources. VII. Novel random and alternating copolycarbonates from
1,4:3,6-dianhydrohexitols and aliphatic diols. J Polym.Sci Part A: Polym.Chem
41:2312-2321
17. Kenar JA (2004) Current perspectives on oleochemical carbonates. Inform 15:
580-582
18. Narayan R (2000) Reactive Extrusion Process Produces Biodegradable Films &
Injection Molded Products Based on Soy Protein-Polyester. MRS (Materials
Research Society) Bulletin, Vol. 28:10
19. Narayan R (2006) Rationale, Drivers, Standards, and Technology for Biobased
Materials in Renewable Resources and Renewable Energy, CRC Press, Ed Mauro
Graziani & Paolo Fornasiero.
20. Shogren R L, Petrovic Z S, Liu Z, Erhan S Z (2004) Biodegradation Behavior of
Some Vegetable Oil-based Polymers. J Polym Environ 12:173-178
21. Zlatanic A, Lava C, Zhang W, Petrovic ZS (2004) Effect of Structure on
Properties of Polyols and Polyurethanes Based on Different Vegetable Oils. J
Polym Sci: Part B: Polym Physics 42:809-819
22. Tian H, Wang Y, Zhang L, Quan C, Zhang X (2010) Improved flexibility and
water resistance of soy protein thermoplastics containing waterborne
polyurethane. Ind Crop Prod 32(1)13-20
23. Kumar R, Choudhary V, Mishra S, Varma IK, Mattiason B (2002) Adhesives
and plastics based on soy protein products. Ind Crop Prod 16:155-172
24. Fountoulakis M, Lahm HW (1998) Hydrolysis and amino acid composition
analysis of proteins. J Chromatogr 826:109-134
25. Zumwalt RW, Absheer JS, Kaiser FE, Gehrke CW (1987) Acid hydrolysis of
proteins for chromatographic analysis of amino acids. J Assoc Off Anal Chem
70(1):147-151

44

26. Rowan AM, Moughan PJ, Wilson MN (1992) Effect of hydrolysis time on the
determination of the amino acid composition of diet, ileal digesta , and feces
samples and on the determination of dietary amino acid digestability coefficients.
J Agric Food Chem 40(6):981-985
27. Emmert JL, Baker DH (1995) Protein quality assessment of soy products. Nutr
Res 15:1647-1656
28. Albin DM, Wubben JE, Gabert VM (2000) The influence of hydrochloric acid
concentration and measurement methods on the determination of amino acid
levels in soya bean products. Anim Feed Sci Tech 87:173-186
29. Soyatech (2014) http://www.soyatech.com/info.php?id=175
30. WISHH (2014) http://www.wishh.org/aboutsoy/composition.html
31. USB (2014) http://soynewuses.org
32. Weiss M, Manneberg M, Juranville JF, Lahm HW, Fountoulakis M (1998) Effect
of the hydrolysis method on the determination of the amino acid composition of
proteins. J Chromatogr A 795:263-275
33. Gehrke CW, Wall Sr LL, Absheer J, Kaiser FE, Zumwalt RW (1985) Sample
preparation for chromatography of amino acids: acid hydrolysis of proteins. J
Assoc Off Anal Chem 68:811-821
34. Albin DM, Wubben JE, Gabert VM (2000) Effect of Hydrolysis Time on the
Determination of Amino acids in Samples of Soybean Products with IonExchange Chromatography or Precolumn Derivatization with Phenyl
Isothiocynate. J Agric Food Chem 48(5):1684-1691
35. Edwards HM, Douglas MW, Parsons CM, Baker DH (2000) Protein and Energy
Evaluation of Soybean Meals Processed from Genetically Modified High-Protein
Soybeans. Poult Sci 79:525-527
36. Albin DM, Wubben JE, Gabert VM (2000) The influence of hydrochloric acid
concentration and measurement method on the determination of amino acid levels
in soya bean products. Anim Feed Sci Tech 87:173-186
37. Campbell MF, Kraut CW, Yackel WC,Yang HS (1985) "Soy Protein
Concentrates" in "New Protein Foods", A.M. Altschul and H.L. Wilke, Editors.
Vol. 5, p. 301. Academic Press, Inc. Orlando, Florida.
38. Weiberth FJ (1999) "One-pot" preparation of N-(Carbonylamino)amino acids and
half -acid/half-ester yrea dipeptides directly from α-amino acids. Tetrahedron
Letters 40(15):2895-2898

45

39. Knolker HJ, Braxmeier T (1997) Isocyanates, Part 4. Convenient Phosgene FreeMethod for the Synthesis and Derivatization of Enantiopure α-Isocyanato
Carboxylic Acid Esters. Synlett 8:925-928
40. Shan S. Wong (1991) Chemistry of Protein Conjugation and Cross-linking. CRC
Press.
41. Nakajima N, Ikada Y (1995) Mechanism of Amide Formation by Carbodiimide
for Bioconjugation in Aqueous Media. Bioconjugate Chem 6:123-130
42. Green TW, Wuts PGM (1999) Protective Groups in Organic Synthesis, 2nd Ed.;
Wiley: New York, 503–550.
43. Carpino LA (1987) The 9-fluorenylmethyloxycarbonly family of base-sensitive
amino-protecting groups. Acc Chem Res 20(11):401-407
44. Xiuo XY, Ngu K, Choa C, Patel DV (1997) Selective Solid Phase Synthesis of
Ureas and Hydantoins from Common Phenyl Carbamate Intermediates. J Org
Chem 62:6968-6973
45. Yadav JS, Reddy GS, Reddy MM, Meshram HM (1998) Zinc promoted simple
and convenient synthesis of carbamates : An easy access for amino group
protection. Tetrahedron Lett 39: 3259-3262
46. Salvatore RN, Shin S, Nagle AS, Jung KW (2001) Efficient Carbamate Synthesis
via a Three - Component Coupling of an Amine, CO2, and Alkyl Halides in the
Presence of Cs2CO3 and Tetrabutylammonium Iodide. J Org Chem 66:1035-1037
47. Porta F, Cenini S, Pizzotti M (1985) Reaction of amines and related species with
transition metal peroxo complexes. J Organomet Chem 296:291-300
48. Pandey RK, Dagade SP, Dongare MK, Kumar P (2003) Synthesis of carbamates
using yttria-zirconia-based Lewis acid catalyst. Synthetic Communications
33(23):4019–4027
49. Greene TW, Wuts PGM (1999) Protective Groups in Organic Synthesis. Third
Edition. by T.W. Greene, P.G.M. Wuts. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
50. Ubaghs L (2005) Isocyanate-free Synthesis of (Functional) Polyureas,
Polyurethanes, and Urethane-containing Copolymers”, Rheinisch-Westfälische
Technische Hochschule Aachen, Fakultät für Mathematik, Informatik und
Naturwissenschaften.
51. Rokicki G, Piotrowska A (2002) A new route to polyurethanes from ethylene
carbonate, diamines, and diols. Polym J 43:2927-2935

46

52. Rockicki G, Wojciechowski C (1990) Epoxy Resin Modified by Aliphatic Cyclic
Carbonates. J Appl Polym Sci 41:627
53. Kihara N, Endo T (1993) Synthesis and Properties of Poly(hydroxyurethane)s. J
Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 31:2765-2773
54. Tomita H, Sanda F, Endo T (2001) Structural Analysis of Polyhydroxyurethane
Obtained by Polyaddition of Bifunctional Five-Membered Cyclic Carbonate and
Diamine Based on The Model Reaction. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 39:
851-859
55. Clements JH (2003) Reactive Applications of Cyclic Alkylene Carbonates. Ind
Eng Chem Res 42:663-674
56. ASTM Standard D1980-87 (2003) Standard Test Method for Acid Value of Fatty
Acids and Polymerized Fatty Acids. ASTM International, West Conshohocken,
PA.
57. ASTM Standard D2073-92 (2003) Standard Test Methods for Total, Primary,
Secondary, and Tertiary Amine Values of Fatty Amines, Amidoamines, and
Diamines by Referee Potentiometric Method. ASTM International, West
Conshohocken, PA.
58. ASTM Standard D1957-86 (2003) Standard Test Method for Hydroxyl Value of
Fatty Oils and Acids. ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA.
59. Grieshop CM, Kadzere CT, Clapper GM, Flickinger EG, Bauer LL, Frazier RL,
Fahey GC (2003) Chemical and Nutritional Characteristics of United States
Soybeans and Soybean Meals. J Agric Food Chem 51:7684-7691
60. Elisabetta P, Silvia V, Paola S, Lucia C (2011) The nanostructured morphology of
linear polyurethanes observed by transmission electron microscopy. Micron
42(1):3-7

47

Chapter 3 Rigid polyurethane foams based on soy meal polyols

This chapter deals with the preparation of urethanes-based polyols from soy meal
that are suitable for polymerization into rigid foams. In this process, soy meal is
hydrolyzed to a mixture of amino-acids, which are then condensed with ethylene diamine
to produce amine terminated monomers. In a second step, these monomers are reacted
with ethylene carbonate to yield hydroxyl terminated urethane oligomers. The
carbohydrates that are also present in the meal are propoxylated and converted to active
polyols. The final polyol mixture is characterized by low viscosity and high hydroxyl
functionality. These new hydroxyl terminated urethanes were then used to produce rigid
foams by a conventional process.
The preparation process and characterization of the soy meal-based polyols will be
discussed as well as key properties of the rigid foams (e.g. density, compressive strength,
compressive strain at yield, friability, water absorption, burning rate, K factor and
dimensional stability with aging). It was observed that these polyols are much more
reactive than conventional polyols, eliminating the need to add a polymerization catalyst
in the foaming process. Furthermore, these soy meal-based polyols are compatible with
many conventional polyols, allowing the formulator to adjust the properties of the foams
as needed. Thus, polyurethane foams prepared with 25% and 50% soy meal polyols
exhibited comparable properties to foams prepared from a conventional polyol. These
new biobased polyols with self-catalytic properties are best suited for rigid spray foam
formulations that require fast cure and high crosslink density.

48

3.1 Introduction
The use of biomass as raw materials for production of fuels and chemicals to
displace fossil resources has been the focus of many research activities in recent years.
These activities are motivated by the possibility of positive contributions to a sustainable
resource supply, enhanced national security, and macroeconomic benefits for local
communities and the society at large. Much of this activity was directed toward fuel and
energy production (e.g. fermentation of biomass to ethanol and transesterification of
triglyceride oils to biodiesel). Only limited effort has been directed toward using the
protein biomass that is left behind after extracting the oil to produce value added
industrial products. Many such products are derived from polyurethanes and include
foams, coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers (CASE). However, only a few of
these synthetic polyurethanes contain biobased components and these are generally
prepared by condensation of petroleum-based isocyanates with vegetable oil-based
polyols. In comparison, only little attention has been directed toward utilization of protein
biomass for value-added polymeric materials. The amino acids in the protein are rich in
amine functional groups that can easily be converted to urethanes.
It is well known that soybean contains much more protein than oil. Although the
exact composition of the bean depends on many variables including trait, climate, soil,
geographical location, maturity, the extraction process, etc. typically the protein content
is almost twice the content of the oil (about 38% compared with only 18% oil).
Furthermore, the cost of the protein meal is about half the cost of the oil. Thus, the use of
the meal as a raw material is attractive considering the economics and its availability.

49

In the US, soybeans are readily available and are grown in large quantities. After
extracting the oil, most of the soy meal is processed into animal feed, primarily for
poultry, swine, cattle, and aquaculture. A very small portion is refined to soy flour, soy
concentrates, and soy isolates for human consumption and only 0.5% is used for
industrial applications. Currently, the small amounts of meal used for industrial
applications include its use as adhesives for plywood and particle board with other minor
applications such as additives in textured paints, insecticides, dry-wall tape compounds,
linoleum backing, paper coatings, fire-fighting foams, fire-resistant coatings, asphalt
emulsions, cosmetics and printing inks.
Our objectives were to develop a process for utilizing this relatively inexpensive
biomass and convert the amine functional groups to hydroxyl terminated urethanes
suitable for use as polyols for rigid polyurethane foams. Unlike previous work, our
process is relatively simple; it utilizes non-toxic reactants and intermediates and does not
require expensive or specialized equipment.

3.2 Literature review
Rigid polyurethane foams have good insulation properties, adhesion, high
strength-to-weight ratio, durability and have been used for many applications in the
construction and automotive industries. Polyurethane spray foams are also used widely in
the packaging industry for shipping valuable fragile items. They can be formed into very
complex shapes and are easy to process [1]. Rigid foams are generally synthesized by the
reaction of diisocyanates with polyols having

hydroxyl value greater than 300

mgKOH/g. Most of these polyols are derived from petro-based feedstocks. However due
to fluctuations in the oil price as well as an increasing trend towards utilizing

50

environmentally friendly feedstocks, there are efforts to replace these petro-based polyols
with renewable biobased resources such as vegetable oils. Vegetable oils like Castor oil,
soybean oil, canola oil, palm oil were converted into polyols and further used for
synthesizing polyurethane foams [3-10].
Castor oil naturally contains hydroxyl groups that are evenly distributed
throughout the triglyceride molecule at approximately 2.7 per triglyceride. Therefore,
castor oil was widely used in the production of polyurethanes even before technologies
were developed for using other vegetable oils. However, these polyols are secondary
hydroxyls with significantly lower reactivity than primary polyols. Castor oil has been
further transesterified with an excess of various polyols (like glycerol, pentaerythritol,
sorbitol) or converted to amides using diethanolamides to increase the functionality and
hydroxyl values, making them suitable for synthesizing rigid polyurethane foams [11,
12]. For example, M. A. Mosiewicki et al. synthesized a low viscosity, highly hydrophilic
bio-based polyol from castor oil by alcoholyis using triethanolamine and lithium
hydroxide as catalyst. The hydroxyl values of the castor oil derived polyols increased
significantly from 169.3 mg KOH/g to 449 mg KOH/g, 2.6 times the original value for
the unmodified oil. The resulting polyol was then used in rigid foam formulations using
4,4’-diphenylmethane diisocyanate at an isocyanate index ratio of 1.15 and 1.25. The
replacement of the commercial polyol by the castor oil derived polyol helped improve the
fire behaviour of the filled foams [13]. Furthermore, G.T Cardoso et al. prepared rigid PU
foams using castor oil and characterized the thermogravimetric properties of the foams.
They found that the decomposition of the foams began at approximately 170oC,

51

indicating that these foams had a relatively high resistance to thermal degradation,
making them suitable for insulation applications [14].
Vegetable oils are triglycerides, which are esters formed from glycerol and three
fatty acids (Figure 3.1) The structures of the fatty acids are given in Table 4.1. Palmitic
(C16:0) and stearic acid (C18:0) are the two saturated fatty acids, while oleic (C18:1),
linoleic (C18:2), linolenic (C18:3) and ricinoleic acids (C18:1) are the unsaturated fatty
acids. The first number is the number of the carbon atoms in the fatty acid and the second
number is the number of double bonds. The unsaturated fatty acids have cis-double bonds
in their structures. All the most common vegetable oils (Table 3.1) contain significant
amounts of palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic and linolenic acids, while ricinoleic acid is a
major component present in castor oil. Unlike castor oil, nearly all the other vegetable
oils do not have the natural hydroxyl groups required for synthesizing polyurethanes. The
carbon-carbon double bonds and the ester functionality present in triglycerides can be
utilized for further modification to obtain hydroxyl functional groups.
O

O

O

R1

O

R2

O
R3

O

Figure 3.1 Triglyceride structure, where R1, R2, R3 are fatty acids

52

Table 3.1: The most common fatty acids found in vegetable oils
Fatty Acid

Structure

Palmitic (C16:0)

HO2C

Stearic (C18:0)

HO2C

Oleic (C18:1)

HO2C

Linoleic (C18:2)

HO2C

Linolenic (C18:3)

HO2C

OH

Ricinoleic (C18:1 OH)

HO2C

53

3.2.1 Synthetic routes to vegetable oil-based polyols
Various synthetic routes to convert vegetable oils to polyols are described in the
literature [6, 15]. Epoxidation of vegetable oils followed by ring opening of the epoxide
rings to produce vegetable oil-based polyols is currently the most common commercial
process. This route essentially consists of two steps, the first being the epoxidation of the
double bonds present in the unsaturated fatty acids. The second step consists of a
nucleophilic ring opening of epoxide groups using proton donors such as alcohols, water,
acids or hydrogenation. The epoxidation of vegetable oils by generating a peracid in situ
from hydrogen peroxide and acetic or formic acid is the mostly used commercial process
and results in sufficient yields of epoxidised oil [16]. Various chemo-enzymatic
epoxidation of vegetable oils are also reported in the literature [17-19]. The reaction
scheme is shown in Figure 3.2, where R2 and R3 represent the unsaturated fatty acid
residues.

54

O

O
O

R2

H2O2, CH3CO2H

Epoxidation

R3

O

O

O

O
O

R2

CH3OH, H2O, HCl, HBr, H2

Ring opening
R3

O

O

X

O
O

O

OH

R2

R3

where X = OCH3, Cl, Br or H

Figure 3.2: Polyol synthesis from epoxidized vegetable oils

Various mono-alcohols like methanol, diols like ethylene glycol and propylene glycol
were used as the proton donors for the ring opening of the epoxides [20-25]. The use of
diols results in obtaining two hydroxyl groups per epoxy group and therefore polyols
with very high functionality are obtained. Moreover the use of diols like ethylene glycol
results in primary hydroxyl groups which are more reactive than secondary hydroxyl
55

groups in polyurethane production. Apart from alcohols, various inorganic acids like
hydrochloric acid, hydrobromic acid and organic acids like lactic acid have been used for
the ring opening of epoxide groups [26, 27]. Furthermore, hydrogenation of the
epoxidized oils with H2 and Rany nickel as a catalyst were also reported. One of the
significant drawbacks associated with these methods of obtaining polyols from
epoxidized vegetable oils is the fact that the resultant polyols are a viscous grease and
still have higher viscosity than the petroleum-based polyols [28, 29].

Ozonolysis is another method used to produce primary hydroxyl groups from
vegetable oils [30-32]. In this method, the carbon-carbon double bonds present in the
unsaturated fatty acid chains are cleaved to produce short-chain polyols. The ozonolyis of
vegetable oils is shown in Figure 3.3. The application of ozonolyis to unsaturated
vegetable oils results in a terminal aldehyde which is further reduced into primary
alcohols, having at most three hydroxyl functional groups per molecule.

56

O

O
O

R2

ozonolysis
O

O3/O2

R3

O

O

O
O

R2

reduction

NaBH4

R3

O

O

O

OH
O

O

R2

R3

Figure 3.3: Ozonolysis route to synthesis of polyols from vegetable oil
Hydroformylation [33, 34] is another route to synthesize polyols from vegetable
oils and involves the addition of hydroxymethyl groups to the carbon-carbon double
bonds in the unsaturated fatty acid chains in a two step process as shown in Figure 3.4. In
the first step, vegetable oils are treated with a mixture of CO and H2 gas in the presence
of catalysts to yield aldehydes, which are further reduced with H2 in the second step to
yield hydroxyl groups. This method yields vegetable oil-based polyols with primary

57

hydroxyl groups which are more reactive towards isocyanate in the polyurethane
production.
O

O
O

R2

H2, CO, catalyst
O

R3

O

CHO

O
O

R2

H2, catalyst
R3

O

OH
O

O
O

O

R2

R3

Figure 3.4: Synthesis of polyols from vegetable oils by hydroformylation
Transesterification of vegetable oils with various polyols is another route to
synthesize polyols [35, 36]. Glycerol, sorbitol and trimethylolpropane are some of the

58

multifunctional alcohols used for the transesterification reactions. Similarly the amidation
of vegetable oils with diethanolamine is also reported in the literature [37, 38].

3.2.2 Rigid polyurethane foams from vegetable oil-based polyols
Polyurethane rigid foams were prepared from hydroxymethylated castor oil,
safflower oil, and polyol esters of castor oil, as early as 1974. The foams were observed
to have satisfactory compressive strength and resistance to shrinkage on humid aging.
Furthermore, rapeseed oil, and palm oil-based polyols were also used to make rigid PU
foams [39, 40].
Guo et al. synthesized both HCFC and pentane-blown rigid PU foams with
polyols derived from soybean oil. The soy polyols were prepared by the oxirane ringopening reaction of epoxidized soybean oil with methanol to produce polyol with
secondary OH groups [41]. The foam properties were studied by altering the types and
amounts of catalyst, surfactant, water, crosslinker, blowing agent and isocyanate. The
mechanical and thermal insulating properties of these foams were observed to be inferior
to foams made from petro-based polyols. Further investigation was done by Guo et al on
the effect of soy-based polyol structures on PU rigid foams [42]. The polyol synthesis
involved the hydroformylation of the double bonds present in the soybean oil followed by
hydrogenation resulting in primary OH groups. The reaction of the isocyanates with the
primary alcohols was faster than the reaction with secondary alcohols and the resulting
PU foams had properties comparable to petro-based foams. The rigidity of the PU foams
made using primary OH group polyols was higher than the foams made previously using
secondary OH groups.

59

Narine et al. synthesized rigid PU foams made from vegetable oils, canola oil,
soy-based polyol and crude castor oil[ 43]. The polyols synthesized from canola oil by
ozonolysis and hydrogenation based technology were found to be more highly reactive
than the soybean oil and crude castor oil, as was indicated by the cream, rise time and gel
times of the foams. Tu et al. investigated the properties of waterborne rigid PU foams by
utilizing fifty vegetable oil-based polyols and evaluated their potential for replacing 50%
of the petro-based polyols [44]. Density, compressive strength and thermal conductivity
of the PU rigid foams were investigated and it was observed that the most of the foams
made with 50% replacement of vegetable oil-based polyols were inferior to those made
with 100% petro-based foams. However, the foams made using hydroxyl soybean oil,
epoxidized soybean oil reacted with acetol, and oxidized epoxidized diglyericide of
soybean oil had superior thermal conductivity, better density and compressive strength
compared to foams made with 100% petro-based foams. Tan et al. investigated the
properties of rigid PU foams by substituting a polypropylene-based polyol with a soybean
oil-based polyol. The soy-based foams had a regular cell structure, smaller cell size and
ultimately superior compressive strength than the petro-based foams [45].
Although various synthetic routes are described in the literature to convert
vegetable oils to polyols and their applications in rigid polyurethane foam formulations
no information was found describing the conversion of protein biomass that is left behind
after extracting the oil to produce polyols for rigid polyurethane foams. The goal of this
work is to synthesize polyols from defatted soymeal and investigate their utility in rigid
PU foam formulations and compare the foam properties with those made from petrobased foams.

60

3.3 Experimental methods
Our approach is based on two basic principles: (1) protect the carboxylic acid in the
amino acids by reacting it with ethylene diamine (or similar polyamines) to form an
amide, and (2) react the resulting terminal amines with ethylene carbonate [46-52] to
yield hydroxyl terminated urethane monomers that can be polycondensed to high
molecular weight poly(amide-urethane)s. The use of ethylene diamine and ethylene
carbonate has several advantages: these reactants are inexpensive compounds, their
respective reactions are well known and proceed smoothly to high yields and both
reactants are readily available .
Glycine and L-arginine amino acids were used as model compounds. Glycine was
chosen as it is a simple amino acid containing one amine and one carboxylic acid. LArginine was chosen since it is present in the soy meal at relatively high concentrations
and its structure is relatively complex (e.g. it contains two primary amines, one secondary
amine and one imine group). Both of these amino acids exist as zwitterions, which could
limit their reactivity. Thus, it was critical to determine if this zwitterionic structure would
retard their reactivity. The following is a typical procedure that was used to prepare
polyols from L-arginine (Figure 3.5):
In the first step, L-arginine (400 g, 2.3 moles), excess ethylenediamine (800 ml, 12.0
moles) and NaOH (8 g, 2 Wt.%) were added to a three-necked round bottom flask fitted
with a dean-stark trap topped with a condenser, a thermal sensor for maintaining a
constant temperature and a nitrogen inlet. The reaction mixture was refluxed at 113oC for
60 hours; then unreacted ethylene diamine was removed by distillation to yield Larginine amido-amine.

61

In a second step, the intermediate L-arginine amido-amine was reacted with ethylene
carbonate (Figure

3.5) to yield hydroxyl-terminated urethane monomer using the

following procedure: arginine amido-amine (290.31g, 1.34 mole) and ethylene carbonate
(293.72 g, 3.34 moles) were added to a 1000 ml three necked flask fitted with mechanical
stirrer, thermometer and nitrogen inlet. The reaction mixture was continuously stirred
while monitoring the C=O carbonate peak at 1800 cm-1 by FTIR.
A similar procedure was used to prepare a hydroxyl-terminated urethane monomer
from glycine and the amino acid mixture from the hydrolysis of soy meal.

NH2

+

OH

NH

O

NH

O

NH

NH2

NH2

NH

NH

NH2

NH2

NH2

NH2

I
O

NH

NH
NH

O

NH

I +

O

O

NH

NH

O

O

O
O

O
O

OH

HO

HO

Figure 3.5: Preparation of hydroxyl-terminated urethane monomer
Polyols from soy meal required an additional hydrolysis step whereby the proteins
in the meal were hydrolyzed to amino acids. In a typical hydrolysis reaction, soy meal
(507 g) and 2500 ml of 3N HCl were added to a 5000 ml 3-necked round bottom flask
fitted with a mechanical stirrer, condenser and nitrogen inlet. The reaction mixture was
heated under reflux at 110oC for 36 hour while stirring. Then, the hydrolyzate was

62

filtered to remove any unreacted humin (105.26g) and treated with activated carbon to
remove some of the dark brown color. The acidic hydrolyzate was neutralized using
NaOH to pH 8 and then vacuum distilled to remove water. The amino acid mixture thus
obtained was reacted with ethylene diamine and ethylene carbonate as before.
Since the soy meal also contains carbohydrates, it was possible to remove them
before polymerization. However, it was found that these carbohydrates could be
converted to active polyols by reacting them with propylene oxide (Figure 3.6). This
propoxylation reaction is fairly fast and provided better economics since it eliminated the
separation step and allowed higher yield polyols. In a typical procedure, 300 g of the
polyol terminated urethane oligomers were placed in a glass reactor and pre-heated to
100°C. The reactor was purged by nitrogen three times. Each time, nitrogen was removed
by vacuum. Finally, 60 g of propylene oxide was added dropwise to the reactor. The
vacuum prior to the addition of propylene oxide was kept at -20 psi. Propylene oxide was
added at a rate such that the temperature was kept below 100°C and the pressure of +10
psi. The addition was completed in 5 hours but mixing was continued for an additional 3
hours until the vacuum was close to the initial vacuum indicating complete reaction. It
should be emphasized that no catalyst was needed in this process and the presence of the
secondary and tertiary amines of the amino acids was sufficient to catalyze this
propoxylation reaction.

63

CH3
CH3

OH
H
HO

+

HO

OH

O

H

100°C, 5h addition
+ 3h
Pmax = 10 psi

CH3
R

CH

CH2

O

O

+

O

NH

R'

O CH

CH2 CH O

O

CH2

O

O

O

O
CH2 CH O

CH3

CH3
R

N

R'

CH2 CH

OH

CH3

Figure 3.6: Propoxylation of soymeal polyol

64

H

O

n

n

n

n

H

3.3.1 Preparation of rigid polyurethane foams
Water-blown pour-in-place rigid foams were prepared from the soy meal polyols
targeting a foam density of 2 pcf (pounds per cubic foot). A commercial sucrose-based
polyol having hydroxyl value in the range of 360 mg KOH/g was used as a reference
polyol. Rigid polyurethane foams were prepared as a control using this polyol in the
formulation described in Table 3.2 and the foams from the soy meal-based polyols were
evaluated against this control foam. All rigid foams were prepared using a standard
laboratory procedure using a high-torque mixer. Foams were prepared using water as a
sole blowing agent as well as with a combination of water with Enovate 3000 (HFC245fa) blowing agent. The polyol component of the polyurethane system was prepared by
blending the polyol(s) with other formulation components and then the polyol component
was mixed with the isocyanate and poured into the paper box. The foaming profile,
including mixing time, cream time, gel time, rise time, and tack-free time were measured
for all foams (Table 3.2). The foams were aged under room temperature conditions for
one week before they were cut and tested. The ASTM test methods that were used to
evaluate the properties of the foams are listed in Table 3.3.

65

Table 3.2: Typical formulation of rigid foams derived from propoxylated soymeal
polyol

Sample
Polyol system
Poly - G 74-376
Propoxylated soymeal polyol
Water
Dabco DC193
Dabco 33LV
Niax A-1
Isocyanate System
Rubinate M
Isocyanate Index
Reaction Profile
Mix time, sec.
Cream time, sec.
Gel time, sec.
Rise time, sec.
Tack-free time, sec.

Control

Foam
1

Foam
2

Foam
3

Foam
4

Foam
5

100
0
4.5
2.0
1.8
0.1

75
25
4.5
2.0
1.8
0.1

75
25
4.5
2.0
0.3
0.05

75
25
4.5
2.0
0.0
0.05

50
50
4.5
2.0
0.1
0.05

50
50
4.5
2.0
0.0
0.0

168.59
105

179.05 176.99 176.59 187.18 187.01
105
105
105
105
105

10
13
75
110
132

10
8
23
45
30

10
13
68
68
62

10
24
120
120
90

10
19
56
56
62

Table 3.3: Foam characterization methods
Description
Core Density
Compressive Strength
Compressive Strain at Yield
Friability by mass loss
Burning Rate in a Horizontal Position
Aging Test at 70°C and Ambient Humidity
Aging Test at -30°C and Ambient Humidity
Water Absorption
Insulation K-factor

66

Test method
ASTM D 1622-03
ASTM D 1621-00
ASTM D 1621-00
ASTM C 421-00
ASTM D 635-03
ASTM D 2126-99
ASTM D 2126-99
ASTM D 2842-01
ASTM C 518-02

10
32
76
76
72

3.4 Results and discussion
The soy meal-based polyols as well as the model polyols derived from L-arginine
and glycine amino acids were viscous liquids at room temperature. These polyols were
readily miscible with the other components of the foam formulation as well as many
other polyols that are currently being used commercially in the production of rigid foams.
Thus, the formulator can easily choose a blend of polyols to achieve specific foam
properties. It should also be emphasized that in all cases a noticeable self catalytic
reaction was noted when the soy meal polyols were used (as well as the polyols derived
directly from the amino acids).
The hydrolysis reaction to break the proteins to the individual amino acids is well
known and can be accomplished by acid catalysis, ion exchange or by enzymatic
reactions. The rate of the hydrolysis is directly proportional to the temperature and the
concentration of acid in the system. The temperature of the reaction can be increased
above 100○C by running the hydrolysis under pressure. However, it is well known that
excessive temperature (as well as excessive concentrations of acid) leads to degradation
of the amino acids. We have used relatively mild conditions and, thus, long reaction time
to ensure complete hydrolysis and minimum degradation of the resulting amino acids.
The composition of the amino acids from the hydrolysis of the soy proteins is well known
[53].
It was necessary to “protect” the carboxylic acids of the resulting amino acids in
order to produce the urethane linkages. This was conveniently done by reacting with
ethylene diamine to yield amido-amine derivatives containing terminal amines as shown
in Figure 3.5. It should be noted, however, that excess ethylene diamine (or other

67

diamines) is required here, since otherwise both amines of the same molecule will react.
Although this type of dimerization and increase in the molecular weight is not
detrimental, it can lead to higher viscosity products. The use of a large excess of ethylene
diamine minimized this side reaction. NMR analysis of the product clearly indicated that
the amidation reaction proceeded as desired and these data are supported by FTIR spectra
(shown in Chapter 2) that clearly showed a shift of the carbonyl groups from 1640 cm-1 to
an amide at 1570 cm-1.
End-group analyses (Table 3.4) provided further evidence to the successful sequence
of these reactions. The experimental amine and acid values of the model amino acid
compound L-arginine (Arg) are lower than the expected calculated values due to the
zwitterion structure, the presence of imine and secondary amine groups. A significant
increase in the amine value was observed after the reaction with ethylene diamine to
convert the carboxylic acid groups to amides and produce the diamine derivative (ArgED) as shown in Figure 3.5. The subsequent reaction with ethylene carbonate led to the
formation of the hydroxyl terminated urethane oligomers (Arg-ED-EC) as indicated by
the significant drop in the amine value and the high hydroxyl value. The reaction of
amine with carbonate to yield hydroxyl terminated urethanes is well known [46-54]. It
should be noted here that the amine value did not decrease to zero due to the presence of
the less reactive secondary amines and imine groups. However, further reduction in the
amine value was obtained by propoxylation (Arg-ED-EC-PO). Similarly, the hydrolyzed
mixture of amino acids from the soy meal (SMS) showed a marked increase in the amine
value after similar reaction with ethylene diamine (SMS-ED) followed by high hydroxyl
value after the reaction with ethylene carbonate (SMS-ED-EC). Since the meal also

68

contained carbohydrates [55], propoxylation led to a significant increase in the hydroxyl
value as the propylene oxide reacted with the glucose. The propoxylation reaction also
resulted in a lower viscosity product due to the insertion of short flexible propylene oxide
chains that is particularly suitable for rigid polyurethane foams.

Table 3-4: End group analysis and viscosity of polyols

Sample

Amine value
[mg KOH/g]

Acid value
[mg KOH/g]

OH value
[mg KOH/g]

Viscosity
[cps]

Arg
Arg-ED
Arg-ED-EC
Arg-ED-EC-PO

Calc.
644.1
778.1
0.0
0.0

Exp.
336.6
665.1
103.1
74.7

Calc.
322.0
0.0
0.0
0.0

Exp.
0.0
0.0
0.0

Calc.
0.0
0.0
480.5
-

Exp.
448.2
533.0

NA
54174

SMS
SMS-ED
SMS-ED-EC
SMS-ED-EC-PO

483.7
726.7
0.0
0.0

33.7
650.4
58.9
49.3

549.4
0.0
0.0
0.0

64.9
0.0
0.0
0.0

0.0
0.0
456.2
-

454.4
623.0

NA
24500

3.4.1 Rigid polyurethane foams
The reaction of polymeric methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (Rubinate M, eq. wt..=
135.5) with the soy-meal polyols was noticeably faster than with the sucrose-based
polyols. The presence of secondary amines and imines catalyzed this reaction. As can be
seen from the data in Table 3.2, the cream time, gel time, rise time and tack-free time
were all significantly shorter than the control polyol. It was noted that due to this selfcatalytic reaction and the high reactivity of these polyols, no amine-based catalysts
(Dabco 33LV and Niax A-1) were needed to produce the foams. Typical properties of
rigid foams (Figure 3.7) prepared from soy-meal polyol with water as the blowing agent
69

as well as with 1,1,1,3,3-pentafluoropropane (HFC-245fa) blowing agent are listed in
Table 3.5 and compared with a control foam prepared with Poly-G 74-376,
sucrose/glycerin-based polyol. It is apparent that the two polyols are completely miscible.
The physical properties (e.g. density, compressive strength, compressive strain and
friability) of foams prepared with blends of these polyols are comparable. Similarly,
results of the dimensional stability in aging tests at -30°C and 70°C up to 2 weeks are
essentially identical to the control foams, and the flammability measured as burning rate
(with no flame retardant additives) is very similar for all these foams.

Figure 3.7: Samples of rigid polyurethane foams prepared with combination of
water and Enovate 3000 blowing agent; A - reference formulations (0% soy meal
polyol); B - formulations with 25% soy meal polyol; C - formulations with 50% soy
meal polyol

70

Table 3.5: Properties of rigid PU foams prepared from propoxylated soy meal urethane polyols
Sample Designation
Control polyol* Soy meal polyol
Control polyol*
Soy meal polyol
Type of blowing agent
Water
Water
Water- HFC-245fa Water- HFC-245fa
Amount of soy meal polyol [%]
0
25
0
50
2.13 ± 0.19
1.62 ± 0.01
2.32 ± 0.03
2.03 ± 0.07
Density, pcf
23.98 ± 2.11
17.84 ± 2.06
27.65 ± 2.1
23.40 ± 2.5
Compressive Strength, psi
6.06 ± 0.38
5.44 ± 0.31
5.83 ± 0.34
4.93 ± 0.71
Compressive Strain @ Yield [%]
5.28 ± 0.03
12.99 ± 1.88
4.41 ± 0.73
8.02 ± 0.26
Friability, mass loss [%]
Mass and Volume Change [%] with Aging and Water Immersion Tests
Mass
Vol.
Mass
Vol.
Mass
Vol.
Mass
Vol.
Aging Test @ -30°C
0.61
0.66
-0.19
0.60
-0.42
0.43
-0.43
0.72
after 1 day (24h)
1.69
0.88
0.93
0.17
0.98
0.11
-0.14
0.49
after 1 week (168 h)
1.53
-0.55
1.12
0.24
1.41
0.10
-0.14
-0.30
after 2 weeks (336 h)
Aging Test @ 70°C
-0.31
0.78
0.19
-0.29
-1.23
0.09
-1.04
-0.33
after 1 day (24h)
-0.31
0.78
0.19
-0.29
-1.23
-0.29
-1.04
-0.32
after 1 week (168 h)
0.47
0.92
-0.19
-0.83
0.14
1.58
-1.19
-1.51
after 2 weeks (336 h)
Water Absorption @ 25°C
217.49
0.39 304.46
2.17
165.44
-0.16
252.00
6.53
after 4 days (96 h)
229.73
0.73 325.84
2.14
162.04
0.14
300.15
2.44
after 1 week (168 h)
387 ± 55
380 ± 47
377 ± 35
242 ± 15
Burning rate , mm/min
0.170
K-factor, BTUs
2.62
Density K-factor samples, pcf
* Control polyol: Poly-G 74-376, Sucrose/glycerin-based polyol; Hydroxyl value = 361 from Arch Chemicals

71

3.4.2 Soymeal rigid PU foams vs. commercial packaging PU foams
A comparison is made between the properties of soymeal rigid PU foams and
commercially available PU foams (Unipaq, Inc., Chicago, USA) suitable for Foam-InPlace packaging applications [56] and shown in Table 3.6. It can be observed that the
compression strength and densities of the soymeal polyol based rigid PU foams are
comparable with the those of commercially made rigid PU foams. Soymeal polyol foams
can therefore find potential applications in packaging, providing superior protection and
material cost savings.

Table 3.6: Properties comparison between soymeal polyol foams and commercial
packaging PU foams
Product
Compressive
Density,
strength, psi
pcf
Unipaq foam - 1
6.0
0.40
Unipaq foam - 2
9.2
0.62
Unipaq foam - 3
10.5
0.29
Unipaq foam - 4
17.4
1.19
Unipaq foam - 5
27.6
0.62
Soymeal polyol foams (25%)
17.84±2.06
1.62±0.01
Soymeal polyol foams (50%)
23.40±2.5
2.03±0.07

3.5 Conclusions
Soy meal polyols were prepared from a mixture of amino acids by amidation to
protect the carboxylic acids followed by a reaction with ethylene carbonate. The
carbohydrates in the meal as well as a portion of the secondary amines and imines were
converted to hydroxyl groups by propoxylation. These multi-functional polyols having
high hydroxyl values are suitable for rigid polyurethane foams. Some key advantages of
these foams are:


Low cost raw materials and relatively simple process.

72



Readily available and stable source of domestic raw materials.



Self catalytic (due to the presence of secondary amines).



Partially biobased polyurethane – smaller carbon footprint than traditional rigid
foams.



High dimensional stability and chemical resistance derived from the amide
linkages.



Compatibility with other polyols, blowing agents and other foam additives.



Low flammability (charring upon burning) in synergy with flame retardant
additives.



Potential applications for Foam-In-Place packaging applications.

73

REFERENCES

74

REFERENCES

1. Oertel G (1994) Polyurethane Handbook, 2nd ed. Hanser, New York.
2. Guo A, Javni I, Petrovic Z (2000) Rigid polyurethane foams based on soybean
oil. J Appl Polym Sci 77:467-473
3. Harikrishnan G, Umasankar PT, Khakhar DV (2006) Polyurethane Foam - Clay
Nanocomposites: Nanoclays as Cell Openers. Ind Eng Chem Res 45:7126-7134
4. Ghosh BS, Ghosh SB, Sain M (2010) Synthesis of Soy-Polyol By Two Step
Continous Route and Development of Soy-Based Polyurethane Foam. J Polym
Environ 18:437-442
5. Kong X,Yue J, Narine SS (2007) Physical Properties of Canola Oil Based
Polyurethane Networks. Biomacromolecule 8:3584-3589
6. Pfister DP, Xia Y, Larock RC (2011) Recent advances in vegetable oil-based
polyurethanes. ChemSusChem 4:703-717
7. Galia M, Lucas ME, Carles J, Gerard L, Virginia C (2010) Vegetable oil-based
thermosetting polymers. Eur J Lipid Sci Technol 112:87-96
8. Petrovic ZS (2008) Polyurethanes from vegetable oils. Polym Rev 48:109-155
9. Lucas ME, Meier MAR (2011) Plant oils: The perfect renewable resource for
polymer science?! Eur Polym J 47:837-852
10. Meier MAR, Metzger JO, Schubert US (2007) Plant oil renewable resources as
green alternatives in polymer science. Chem Soc Rev 36:1788-1802
11. Srivastava A, Singh P (2002) Gel point prediction of metal-filled castor oil-based
polyurethanes system. Polym Adv Technol 13:1055-1066
12. Mutlu H, Meier MAR (2010) Castor oil as a renewable resource for the chemical
industry. Eur J Lipid Sci Technol 112:10-30
13. Mosiewicki MA, Dell’Arciprete GA, Aranguren MI, Marcovich NE (2009)
Polyurethane foams obtained from castor oil-based polyol and filled with wood
flour. J Compos Mater 43:3057-3072

75

14. Cardoso GT, Neto SC, Vecchia F (2012) Rigid foam polyurethane (PU) derived
from castor oil (Ricinus communis) for thermal insulation in roof systems.
Frontiers of Architectural Research 1:348-356
15. Desroches M, Escouvois M, Auvergne R, Caillol S, Boutevin B (2012) From
vegetable oils to polyurethanes: synthetic routes to polyols and main industrial
products. Polymer Reviews 52:38-79
16. Zlatanic A, Petrovic Z S, Dusek K (2002) Structure and Properties of TrioleinBased Polyurethane Networks. Biomacromolecules 3:1048-1056
17. Piazza G, Foglia T (2005) Preparation of fatty amide polyols via epoxidation of
vegetable oil amides by oat seed peroxygenase. J Am Oil Chem Soc 82:481-485
18. Biermann U, Friedt W, Lang S, Luhs W, Machmuller G, Metzger J O, gen M R,
Hans K, Schafer J, Schneider M P (2000) New Synthesis with Oils and Fats as
Renewable Raw Materials for the Chemical Industry. Angew Chem Int Ed
39:2206-2224
19. Klaas MRG, Warwel S (1999) Complete and partial epoxidation of plant oils by
lipase - catalysed perhydrolysis. Ind Crops Prod 9:125-132
20. Petrovic Z, Javni I, Guo A, Zhang W (2002) Method of Making Natural Oil based Polyols and Polyurethanes Therefrom. US Patent 6433121.
21. Petrovic Z, Guo A, Javni I (2000) Process for the preparation of vegetable oil based polyols and electroninsulating casting compounds created from vegetable
oil-based polyols. US Patent 6107433.
22. Ionescu M, Petrovic Z, WanX (2007) Ethoxylated Soybean Polyols for
Polyurethanes, J Polym Environ 15:237-243
23. Lu Y, Larock RC (2008) Soybean Oil - Based Waterborne Polyurethane
Dispersions : Effects of Polyol Functionality and Hard Segment Content on
Properties. Biomacromolecules 9:3332-3340
24. Petrovic Z, Guo A, Javni I, Zhang W (2004) Method of Making natural oil-based
polyols and polyurethanes therefrom. US Patent 6686435
25. Lozada z, Suppes GJ, Tu YC, Hsieh FH (2009) Preparation of polymerized
soybean oil and soy-based polyols. J Appl Polym Sci 112(4):2127-2135
26. Guo A, Cho YJ, Petrovic ZS (2000) Structure and properties of halogenated and
non halogenated soy based polyols. J Polym Sci Pol Chem 38:3900-3910

76

27. Miao S, Zhang S, Su Z, Wang P (2010) A novel vegetable oil-lactate hybrid
monomer for synthesis of high - Tg polyurethanes. J Polym Sci Pol Chem
48(1):243-250
28. Guo A, Cho Y, Petrovic ZS (2000) Structure and properties of halogenated and
non halogenated soy based polyols. J Appl Polym Sci 38:3900-3910
29. Petrovic Z S, Yang L, Zlatanic A, Zhang W, Javni I (2007) Network structure
and properties of polyurethanes from soybean oil. J Appl Polym Sci 105 27172727
30. Narayan R, Graiver D, Farminer K, Tran PT (2010) Novel modified fatty acid
esters and method of preparation thereof. US Patent 0084603.
31. Petrovic ZS, Zhang W, Javni I (2005) Structure and properties of polyurethanes
prepared from triglyceride polyols by ozonolysis. Biomacromolecules 6:713-719
32. Petrovic ZS, Milic J, Xu Y, Cvetkovic I, (2010) A chemical route to high
molecular weight vegetable oil-based polyhydroxyalkanoate. Macromolecules
43: 4120-4125
33. Guo A, Demydov D, Zhang W, Petrovic ZS (2002) Polyols and polyurethanes
from hydroformylation of soybean oil. J Polym Environ 10:49.
34. Petrovic ZS, Guo A, Javni I, Cvetkovic I, Hong DP (2008) Polyurethane networks
from polyols obtained by hydroformylation of soybean oil. Polym Int 57:275-281
35. Desai SD, Patel JV, Sinha VK (2003) Polyurethane adhesive system from
biomaterial-based polyol for bonding wood. Int. J. Adhes. Adhes. 23:393-399
36. Kaushik A, Singh P (2005) Synthesis and Characterization of Castor
Oil/Trimethylol Propane Polyol as Raw Materials for Polyurethanes Using Timeof-Flight Mass Spectroscopy. Int. J. Polym. Anal. Charact. 11:373-386
37. Dutta S, Karak N (2005) Synthesis, characterization of poly(urethane amide)
resins from Nahar seed oil for surface coating applications. Prog. Org. Coat.
53:147-152
38. Lee CS, Ooi TL, Chuah CH, Ahmad S (2007) Rigid Polyurethane Foam
Production from Palm Oil-Based Epoxidized Diethanolamides. J Am Oil Chem
Soc 84:1161-1167
39. Lyon CK, Garrett VH, Franker EN (1974) Rigid urethane foams from
hydroxymethylated castor oil, safflower oil, oleic safflower oil and polyol esters
of castor acids. J Am Oil Chem Soc 51:331-334

77

40. Hu YH, Gao Y, Wang DN, Hu CP, Zu S, Vanoverloop L, Randall D (2002) Rigid
polyurethane foam prepared from a rape seed oil based polyol. J Appl Polym Sci
84:591-597
41. Guo A, Javni I, Petrovic ZS (2000) Thermal stability of polyurethanes based on
vegetable oils. J Appl Polym Sci 77, 1723-1734
42. Guo A, Zhang W, Petrovic ZS (2006) Structure - property relationships in
polyurethanes derived from soybean oil. J Mater Sci 41:4914-4920
43. Narine SS, Kong X, Bouzidi L (2007) Physical Properties of Polyurethanes
Produced from Polyols from Seed Oils: II. Foams. J Am Oil Chem Soc 84:65-72
44. Tu Y, Kiatsimkul P, Suppes G, Hsieh F (2006) Physical properties of waterblown rigid polyurethane foams from vegetable oil-based polyols. J Appl Polym
Sci 105:453-459
45. Tan S, Abraham T, Ference D, Macosko CW (2011) Rigid polyurethane foams
from a soybean oil-based Polyol. Polymer 52:2840-2846
46. Rokicki G, Piotrowska A (2002) A new route to polyurethanes from ethylene
carbonate, diamines and diols. Polymer 43:2927-2935
47. Guan J, Song Y, Lin Y, Yin X, Zuo M, Zhao Y, Tao X, Zheng Q (2011) Progress
in Study of Non-Isocyanate Polyurethane. Ind Eng Chem Res 50(11):6517-6527
48. Rokicki G, Lazinski R (1989) Polyamines containing β-hydroxyurethane linkages
as curing agents for epoxy resin. Angew Makromol Chem 170:211-215
49. Kihara N, Kushida Y, Endo T (1996) Optically active poly(hydroxyurethane)s
derived from cyclic carbonate and L-lysine derivatives. J Polym Sci Part A:
Polym Chem 34:2173-2179
50. Kihara N, Endo T (1993) Synthesis and properties of poly(hydroxyurethanes). J
Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 31(11): 2765-2773
51. Tomita H, Sanda F, Endo T (2001) Polyaddition of bis(seven-membered cyclic
carbonate) with diamines: a novel and efficient synthetic method for
polyhydroxyurethanes. J Polym Sci Polymer Science Part A: Polym Chem
39(23):860-867
52. Tomita H, Sanda F, Endo T (2001) Model reaction for the synthesis of
polyhydroxyurethanes from cyclic carbonates with amines: substituent effect on
the reactivity and selectivity of ring-opening direction in the reaction of fivemembered cyclic carbonates with amine. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem9(21):
3678-3685

78

53. Tomita H, Sanda F, Endo T (2001) Self-Polyaddition of Six-Membered Cyclic
Carbonate Having Fmoc-Protected Amino Group: Novel Synthetic Method of
Polyhydroxyurethane. Macromolecules 34(22):7601-7607
54. Tomita H, Sanda F, Endo T (2001) Polyaddition behavior of bis(five- and sixmembered cyclic carbonate)s with diamine. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem
39(6): 860-867
55. Hancock JD, Lee DJ (1999) Evaluating the Ileal Digestibility of Amino Acids in
Soybean Meal from Different Soy Processors. Kansas State University.
56. UNIPAQ (2014) http://protectivepackaging.unipaq.com/item/all-categories/foamin-place-packaging/item-1003

79

Chapter 4 A spectroscopic method for hydroxyl value determination of polyols

A relatively simple method is described for routine determination of hydroxyl
values for a wide range of hydroxyl containing compounds including soybean oil polyols,
polyols derived from soy meal, polyether polyols and ethylene glycol as well as their
blends.

This

method

is

based

on

reacting

the

hydroxyl

compound

with

hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) and determining the FTIR peak area of the silylated
product at 1251 cm -1. The method is simple, accurate and reproducible. It is not limited to
a specific family of polyol compounds. It does not require any special equipment or
hazardous chemicals and can be carried out by non-technical staff as a rapid and
convenient method for quantitative determination of hydroxyl values. An excellent linear
correlation was obtained between this spectroscopic method and conventional titration
methods for different polyols over a wide range of hydroxyl values. Furthermore, unlike
the titration methods the current method is not affected by the presence of acid, base or
small amounts of water in the test sample.
4.1 Introduction
Recently, much attention has been directed toward the use of oleochemical polyols
in the preparation of polyurethanes and unsaturated polyester resins for a wide range of
applications ranging from flexible foams, flooring adhesives and coatings to thermoplastic
materials. The use of domestic oleochemical polyols is advantageous from environmental
and sustainability aspects as well as socio-economic issues over imported petroleum-based
chemicals that are converted to polyols [1-3]. Precise determination of the hydroxyl
functionality, commonly defined as hydroxyl value (OHV), is a critical parameter in the
80

analysis of the extent of the polycondensation reactions. It is also a critical parameter in
the preparation of polyurethanes. OHV is usually determined by titration methods as
specified by ASTM D1957-86(2001), ASTM E 1899-08, D6342-08 and the American Oil
Chemists’ Society (AOCS) method Cd 13–60.
The hydroxyl value is defined as the number of milligrams of KOH equivalent to the
hydroxyl groups found in one gram of the sample and is expressed in mg of KOH/g. The
titration methods are generally reliable and reproducible when conducted under
standardized conditions. However, they require a relatively large sample size and
hazardous reagents, some of which are irritant, highly toxic, or corrosive. Furthermore, the
titration methods are inherently time-consuming, labor-intensive, largely dependent on the
skills of the analyst and are susceptible to error due to contamination by acid, base or
water in the sample. Thus, several other methods for hydroxyl group determination are
described in the literature based on NMR, GC, GPC and IR spectroscopy.
IR spectroscopic methods are common due to their ease of operation, short analysis
time, minimum sample preparation and the need for a relatively small sample size. Indeed,
many routine quality control applications are based on IR spectroscopy and have been
shown to be accurate and reliable [4-10]. FTIR coupled with horizontal attenuated total
reflectance (ATR-FTIR) simplifies many of the sample handling problems commonly
associated with infrared analysis. The ATR-FTIR method is notably rapid because it
requires no weighing of the test sample or quantitative dilution in a solvent prior to the
analysis.
Several methods have been published based on the near-infrared (NIR) region of the
spectrum using one or a few selected wavelengths and different statistical approaches that

81

appear to yield a robust correlation with the titration methods [11]. In an early publication
[12], the hydroxyl values of fatty alcohols were measured using carbon tetrachloride or
tetrachloroethylene as solvent. Due to considerable overlap of the absorption bands in the
NIR region, a partial least squares method or the second derivative of the spectra using
univariate linear regressions were employed [13]. The advantages of these methods are the
use of all the wavelengths in the calibration and the relatively high correlation of the data
with the hydroxyl content of the polyol. However, as the number of variables increases,
the proper variable selection becomes extremely time consuming. Furthermore, these
methods are specific to a particular family of polyols having similar structure since the
OH overtone band shifts to higher wavelengths in the order of primary-secondary-tertiary
alcohols. Branching also affects the spectrum and a relatively wide variation in
absorptivities was observed related to the appearance of nonsymmetrical absorption bands.
It was concluded that a single calibration curve cannot be used for all hydroxyl containing
systems [13]. Furthermore, this technique could only be used after suitable calibration data
were obtained to determine the OHV of a family of essential oils in which the constituents
were the same. As such, these NIR techniques cannot be calibrated for one type of polyol
(e.g. soybean oil polyol) and applied to a different type of polyol (e.g. polyether polyol).
Furthermore, it was found that when water was present, the correlation weakened when
compared with the titration test measurements. It was therefore concluded that if water
was present, a separate calibration was required for almost every combination of reactants
[14]. Alternatively, anhydrous sodium sulphate had to be added and mixed thoroughly for
15 minutes to adsorb the water and then filtered out before acquiring the spectrum.

82

In this project, we report on a practical and rapid method to determine the OHV of
polyols from different sources and their mixtures. This method is based on comparing the
FTIR spectrum of the polyol sample and its silylated spectrum. Thus, subtracting the
original spectrum from the silylated spectrum yields a well defined absorption peak of the
methyl silyl group that has an area that is directly proportional to the concentration of the
hydroxyl groups. Silylation is a well known technique that is frequently used to “protect”
hydroxyl groups in analytical chemistry under mild conditions [15]. 1,1,1,3,3,3hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) is a common silylation reagent that yields silyl ethers with
alcohols and phenols. It is a relatively inexpensive, readily available, stable compound and
is non-hazardous. Its handling does not require special precautions other than storing it
under moisture-free conditions. It is a preferred silylation agent since the by-product of its
reaction with alcohols is ammonia, which is easily removed from the reaction medium.
4.2 Materials and methods
4.2.1 Materials
Soyol R2-052-C derived from soybean oil was manufactured by Urethane Soy
System Company (South Dakota, USA). Refined castor oil was manufactured by G.R.
O'Shea Company (Illinois, USA). Castor oil polyol derivatives CASPOL 1842 (OHV=145
mg KOH/g, CASPOL 5001 (OHV=285 mg KOH/g) and POLYCIN T-400 (OHV=403 mg
KOH/g) were manufactured by Vertellus (Michigan, USA). Carbowax series polyethylene
glycols (Carbowax PEG 200 (OHV=535-595 mg KOH/g), 300 (OHV=340-394 mg
KOH/g) and 400 (OHV=264-300 mg KOH/g) were obtained from the Dow Chemical
Company (Michigan, USA). Polyols derived from amino acids of hydrolyzed soy proteins
were prepared in this laboratory. Ethylene glycol was purchased from J.T. Baker (New

83

Jersey, USA). When polyol blends were used, the mixtures were stirred for 2 hours at
room temperature using a magnetic stirrer to ensure homogeneity. Hexamethyldisilazane,
trifluoroacetic acid, p-toluenesulfonyl isocyanate (TSI) and tetrabutylammonium
hydroxide (Bu4NOH) were purchased from Sigma Aldrich (Missouri, USA). Reagent
grade toluene and acetonitrile were purchased from Fisher Scientific (Massachusetts,
USA). All reagents were used as received unless noted otherwise.
4.2.2 Instrumentation
The attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectra were
acquired on a Shimadzu IRAffinity-1 spectrometer (Tokyo, Japan) equipped with a single
reflection ATR system (PIKE Technologies, Madison, USA, MIRacle ATR). All spectra
were acquired using a resolution of 4 cm-1 and a minimum of 32 scans. All the titration
experiments were performed using a Metrohm titration device 857 Titrando (Florida,
USA).
4.2.3 Silylation of polyols with HMDS
A typical procedure consisted of adding excess HMDS to the polyol (approximately,
3:1 molar ratio) with trifluoracetic acid (14 mmol) as a catalyst to ensure complete
reaction. The mixture was stirred at 60oC for 1 hour while ammonia was evolved and
removed from the reaction mixture. Excess HMDS and the ammonia by-product were then
removed under vacuum (Scheme 4.1).
CH3
HO

OH + H3 C
x

Si
CH3

CH3
N
H

Si

CH3

CH3
CH3

H3C

Si

O
x

CH3

H+/OH-

O

CH3

CH3
H3 C

H2O

Si
CH3

Si
CH3

CH3
O

Si

CH3 + NH3

CH3

Figure 4.1: Silylation of polyols with HMDS

84

CH3 + NH3

4.2.4 OHV determination by titration
OHVs were determined followimg ASTM E 1899-08. Briefly, a polyol sample was
dissolved in toluene and acetonitrile. The sample was stirred until completely dissolved in
the solvent mixture. Then, p-toluenesulfonyl isocyanate (TSI) solution in acetonitrile was
added slowly to form the acidic carbamate. Then distilled water and acetonitrile were
added to the reaction mixture. The product was then titrated with tetrabutylammonium
hydroxide (Bu4NOH). The OHV in mg KOH per gr. sample was then obtained according
to Equation 1:
OHV 

V2  V1   N  56.106
wsample

Eq. 1

where V1 is the first potentiometric end point in mL, V2 is the second potentiometric end
point in mL, N is the concentration of the titrant used in meq/mL, 56.106 is the molecular
weight of KOH in g/mol, and wsample is the mass of the sample in gram. The titration was
repeated at least 3 times for each sample in order to obtain the mean and standard
deviation of these measurements.
4.2.5 OHV determination by FTIR
The FTIR spectrum of the polyol was subtracted from the silylated polyol spectrum
yielding a peak related to the well defined stretching vibration band of the methyl groups
attached to the silicon atom at 1251 cm-1. The baseline of this peak was determined from
the minima on both sides of this peak and the peak area was calculated (Figure 4.2 insert).

85

Figure 4.2: FTIR spectra of a sample polyol (A), the same sample after silylation (B)
and after subtraction (insert)
4.3 Results and discussion
The FTIR method to determine the OHV of polyols is based on testing a large
number of polyol samples including soybean oil polyols, castor oil, polyether polyols and
ethylene glycol as well as blends of these polyols. The polyol samples varied in
composition and OHV over a wide range from 20 to 1800 mg KOH/g.
The basis for quantitative analysis of absorption spectrometry is based on Beer’s law
which states that the absorbance at any frequency is given by Equation 2:

A  a  b  c Eq. 2
Where A is the measured absorbance at a given frequency, a is the molecular absorptivity
at this frequency, b is the path length of the source beam through the sample and c is the
concentration (or thickness) of the sample. Since in ATR-FTIR the infra-red radiation is
reflected at the surface/sample interface, the signal is not a simple variable of c and
depends on the incident angle (e.g. penetration depth) as well as the refractive indexes of

86

the ATR crystal and the sample. Although Beer’s law states that the intensity of any
absorption band is additive and linearly proportional to the concentration of the absorbing
group, small deviations may be present and can lead to a nonlinear relationship when
plotting the absorbance (A) against the concentration (c). Such deviations from linearity,
however, are negligible when the molecular absorptivity (a) is large and the path length
(b) is small. Hence, linearity is best observed from a functional group having a high dipole
moment that results in a narrow, sharp absorption band.
It would be most convenient to assess the hydroxyl content of a sample from direct
evaluation of the area under the absorbance bands related to OH stretching vibrations.
Although direct measurements of the spectra are fast and simple, the degree of hydrogen
bond associations, and hence, the intensity of their absorption peaks varies markedly with
the concentration and the nature of the sample making such measurements unreliable. It
was suggested [16] that in very dilute solutions the degree of hydrogen bond association is
negligible and under this condition, measurements of the intensity of the unassociated
absorption peak could permit the determination of the OHV. Indeed, this method was used
to determine the hydroxyl content of auto-oxidized fatty esters (e.g. methyl ricinoleate)
which was then used to determine the hydroxyl content of other similar samples by
comparison of the relative intensities of the unassociated hydroxyl absorption peaks.
However, extremely dilute solutions had to be used and the spectrum of the pure solvent
had to be subtracted from the spectrum of the solution containing the sample. More
significantly, as mentioned above, this method is limited to a specific family of polyols
having similar chemical structure and therefore cannot be used for different compounds
other than the reference sample or for mixtures of different polyols.

87

We have used a different approach; each polyol sample was first reacted with
HMDS yielding silyl ethers (Figure 4.1) that have exceptionally strong stretching
vibration bands in the IR region. The FTIR spectra of the original polyol sample and the
silylated sample were recorded and subtracted (Figure 4.2). It is apparent from these
spectra that the O-H stretching band at 3300 cm-1 in the silylated spectrum disappeared
indicating the reaction between the OH groups and HMDS had proceeded as expected.
Additionally, new bands related to the methyl groups attached to the silyl ether products
were observed, most notably at 1251 cm-1 and 835 cm-1. Subtracting the original spectrum
from the silylated spectrum gave rise to well defined peaks of the silylated products. The
bands related to the symmetrical deformation vibration of the methyl groups attached to
the silicon atom adjacent to the siloxy ethers are notably strong due to the high dipole
moment and the partial ionic character of the C-O-Si linkage. Thus, this band is well
defined, especially after subtracting the original polyol spectrum from the silylated
spectrum. The areas under either of these peaks were then plotted against the OHV
obtained by the titration method yielding excellent linear correlations (Table 4.1).
4.3.1 Method development
The statistical analysis from these absorbance bands is given in Table 4.1. Here, the
root mean square error (RMSE) of each regression line was calculated according to
Equation 3:

 (Y 'Y )

2

n

RMSE=

i 1

n

Eq. 3

where Y is the OHV obtained by titration, Y’ is the predicted OHV from the subtracted
FTIR peak area and n is the number of data points. The RMSE is particularly suited to

88

provide information of the spread of the y values about the predicted values. It was found
that a slightly smaller RMSE was obtained from the correlation of the peak area at 1251
cm-1 compared with the peak area at 835 cm-1 (77.3 and 83.3, respectively in Table 4.1).
Apparently the narrower absorption band at 1251 cm-1 is less susceptible to errors than the
broader band at 835 cm-1 and provided more accurate results. Although both of these
absorption bands can be used, only the band at 1251 cm-1 is considered here.

Table 4.1: Statistical analysis of the areas under the silylated FTIR bands
Peak at 1251 [cm-1]
Model
RMSEC
77.3±2.8
RMSEP
79.1±8.1
RMSEC/RMSEP
0.9771
Calibration R2
0.9783±0.0022
Prediction R2
0.9732±0.0079
Slope
213.24±2.21

Peak at 835 [cm-1]
83.3±3.9
86.9±11.6
0.9580
0.9731±0.0040
0.9647±0.0139
53.79±0.43

4.3.2 Precision and accuracy
The accuracy of the method was examined by determining how closely the measured
(experimental) OHV agree with the calculated OHV (Figure 4.3). Calculated OHV can
easily be obtained from the molecular structure of the polyol. Although it is possible in
principle to determine the OHV of polyols blends knowing the relative concentration of
each polyol in the blend, the accuracy of these calculations is less reliable. Thus, only the
neat polyols were used in this analysis. It is apparent from the data that excellent linear
correlation is obtained (R2=0.9554) from plotting the experimental OHV against the
calculated values, indicating a high degree of accuracy. For a perfect fit the diagonal line
in this correlation has a slope of 1.00, whereas the slope of the correlation line is 0.9963
(Figure 4.3). The correlation of the Calculated OHV against the FTIR peak area from the

89

absorption band at 1251 cm-1 is shown in Figure 4.4. An excellent linear correlation is
observed (R2=0.9603) indicating a good fit of the calculated OHV with the FTIR peak
areas.

Figure 4.3: Accuracy of the method as determined by comparing the experimental
to calculated OHVs

The precision (e.g. reproducibility) of the method was evaluated by examining how
closely individual measurements agree with each other.

Thus, representative polyol

samples including polyols having different molecular structures, polyols containing
different OHV and blends composed of different polyols were randomly selected and the
FTIR spectra were examined repeatedly (Table 4.2). The statistical analysis of these data
indicates excellent reproducibility with relatively small variations from the means.

90

Table 4.2: Reproducibility of FTIR peak areas of silylated polyols
OHV
FTIR Peak area
Mean
Std. Dev.
[mg KOH/g] Run 1
Run 2
Run 3
322.2
1.84
1.94
1.91
1.90
0.05
358.6
2.01
1.91
1.85
1.92
0.08
453.7
2.11
2.24
2.19
2.18
0.07
540.7
2.64
2.64
2.60
2.63
0.02
602.2
2.82
2.83
2.80
2.82
0.02
680.8
3.09
3.07
3.19
3.12
0.06
866.4
3.62
3.37
3.51
3.50
0.13
938.5
3.80
4.94
4.99
4.58
0.67
1046.1
4.34
4.15
4.18
4.22
0.10
1155.6
4.97
4.63
4.70
4.77
0.18
1298.7
5.34
5.49
5.28
5.37
0.11
1467.1
6.66
6.76
6.43
6.62
0.17
1527.7
7.68
8.18
7.89
7.92
0.25
1673.3
8.19
9.45
9.36
9.00
0.71
1776.0
8.84
8.85
8.87
8.86
0.02

Calculated OHV [mg KOH/g]

2000
1750
1500
1250
1000
750
R2 = 0.9603

500
250
1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

FTIR Peak Area

Figure 4.4: Correlation of the FTIR method with the calculated OHV

91

10

It is important to note that the current spectroscopic method is suitable for a wide
range of polyols from very low to very high OHVs (20 - 1800 mg KOH/g). The only
major limitation that we have noted is the requirement that the polyol has to be sufficiently
reactive to produce the silyl ether derivative with HMDS. In our work all the selected
polyols were sufficiently reactive and were successfully derivatized.

4.3.3 Structural considerations
It is noteworthy to mention that this correlation is general in nature as it does not
depend on whether the polyol constitutes a terminal or secondary alcohol. Furthermore, it
does not depend on the number of hydroxyls per molecule, the chemical composition of
the backbone chain or the molecular weight of the polyol. The polyols in this work include
primary alcohols attached to polyether chains, primary alcohols attached to hydrocarbon
chains, secondary alcohols attached to triglycerides and polyols of low molecular weight
polyurethanes derived from amino acids.
It is recognized that due to differences in the chemical environment of the hydroxyl
groups in the various polyols, dislocations of the infrared absorption band related to the
angular deformations is to be expected. These variations are most significant in polyols
derived from epoxidation of unsaturated fatty acids since the triglycerides in this case
consist of distinct chains with double bonds at different positions [16]. As the double
bonds are reacted and are converted to hydroxyls the absorption spectrum is affected.
Indeed, in the ASTM method D6342-08, it is specifically mentioned that the spectra of all
samples must be similar and if different types of polyols are used, separate calibrations are
required. In this case, it is required to group the samples by chemistry and to develop a

92

separate calibration plot for each chemical grouping. The current method does not rely on
calibration plots that are susceptible to these variations. Instead, we compare the original
polyol spectrum to the same molecule after silylation such that variations related to the
chemical structure are eliminated. Furthermore, the relatively large new absorption related
to the Si-(CH3)3 vibration is essentially unaffected by the minor changes in the absorption
of the neighbouring carbons. Consequently, the likelihood of interference problems is
greatly reduced, thus, contributing to the robustness of the method. It should also be noted
that the current method does not require pre-treatment of the spectral data. Most of the
spectroscopic methods described in the literature require some pre-treatment of the data in
order to obtain optimal calibrations. Such pre-treatments include baseline correction, path
length correction or variable scaling. Also, this pre-treatment of the data can be greatly
influenced by outlier samples and variables.

Experimental OHV [mg KOH/g]

2000
1750
1500
1250
1000
750
500
250

R2 = 0.9783

0
0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

FTIR Peak Area

Figure 4.5: Correlation of the FTIR method with the titration method

93

10

4.3.4 Correlation with the titration method
The correlation of the OHVs determined by the FTIR peak area from the absorption
band at 1251 cm-1 against the OHVs determined by the conventional ASTM titration
method is shown in Figure 4.5. In order to ensure accuracy and determine the
experimental error, the OHV of each sample was repeated by titration according to ASTM
E 1899-08 at least 3 times and the mean value of these titrations was used. The standard
deviations of the titrations varied between 0.4 to 5.1%. An excellent linear correlation is
observed (R2=0.9783) over a very wide range of OHVs for different polyols and their
blends. Normal probability plots are often used to investigate whether the data exhibit the
standard normal "bell curve" or Gaussian distribution. In our case the normal probability
plot (Figure 4.6) follows a straight line indicating that indeed the data set is approximately
normally distributed. The straight line plot with no apparent patterns indicates a good fit of
the OHV data from the current method to the titration method with no obvious clusters or
outliers.

Figure 4.6: Normal probability plot

94

For further verification, a plot of the residuals versus the predicted OHV (Figure
4.7) yields a random scatter around the mean over the full range of the graph indicating no
apparent outliers or trends related to a specific polyol or a mixture of polyols. The
magnitude of the residuals is within the accepted experimental error although slightly
higher residuals are observed at low OHVs. This relatively large error for the low OHVs is
not surprising since even a small absolute experimental error is reflected as a relatively
large number when presented in percents.

Figure 4.7: Residual plot of OHV
4.3.5 Interferences
It is known that the presence of acid, base or water contaminants in the sample can
interfere with the titration. Thus, it is recommended that the samples be dried and contain
no more than 0.2 wt% water as specified by the ASTM methods. Similarly, primary and
secondary amines or excess base in a sample will react with the acidic carbamate to cause
95

low OHVs. Any acidic species with a pKa value close to that of the acidic carbamate can
also react to form stable compounds that will skew the titration analysis and cause high
OHVs. Consequently, all the ASTM titration test methods require that if a sample contains
more than 0.05 milliequivalents of acidity or alkalinity, the test must first be corrected to
determine the acid or alkaline number. The apparent OHVs by titration without
corrections for the presence of these contaminants are listed in Table 4.3. It is apparent
that 1-5 wt% water did not impact the test results as large excess of the TSI reagent is
prescribed by the ASTM method. However, the presence of acetic acid contributed to a
significant increase in the OHV whereas the presence of NaOH resulted in a decrease of
the OHV. Contrary to these results, the analysis of OHV by the current FTIR method is
not affected by such contaminants and the observed OHVs remained unchanged. Although
HMDS will react with water, acid or a base to yield silanols, these silanols will further
condense to yield hexamethyldisiloxane which will be removed from the reaction mixture
and thus will not affect the analysis (Figure 4.1). The major limitation of this method is
the requirement that the polyol has to be less volatile than HMDS. In case acid, base or
water contaminants are present, the polyol also needs to be less volatile than the
hexamethyldisiloxane byproduct.
It should be mentioned that the analysis of OHV by NIR spectra is also affected by
water and ‘catalyst’. Consequently, it is therefore required that any interactions of the
sample with these factors need to be determined before a calibration procedure is initiated.
Thus, the relationship between the NIR spectra and the OHV is generally evaluated during
a separate feasibility study in order to identify such possible interferences before an
adequate calibration model is constructed.

96

Table 4.3: Effect of acid, base and water on the OHV
Polyol

Polyol+acid

Polyol+base

Polyol+water

Mean/Std. Dev.

FTIR
peak Area

2.815

2.862

2.835

2.860

--

OHV by FTIR
[mg KOH/g]

600.1

610.3

604.5

609.9

606.2
± 4.8

OHV titration
[mg KOH/g]

602.2
±3.3

631.5
±4.4

503.3
±4.3

603.1
±3.9

585.0
±56.1

4.4 Conclusions
An excellent linear correlation was observed between the OHV and the absorbance
band of silylated hydroxyl groups at 1251 cm-1. This correlation was observed over a wide
range of OHVs (20 - 1800 mg KOH/g) using polyols having different structures and
different molecular weights as well as various mixtures of such polyol. The OHV is
determined by simply reacting a small amount of polyol sample with HMDS, subtracting
the original FTIR spectrum from the silylated spectrum and determining the area under the
absorption band related to the silylated species. This method is simple and faster than
conventional titration methods. It requires small samples, does not use toxic or hazardous
reagents and is not susceptible to error due to the presence of water, acid/base or other
functional groups containing active hydrogen contaminants. The statistical analysis of the
data based on a relatively large number of different polyols clearly indicates that this
method is accurate, robust and reproducible. Furthermore, this method is fairly simple
such that it can be adopted for routine OHV analyses as well as quality control.

97

REFERENCES

98

REFERENCES

1.

Huy H, Gao Y, Wang DN, Hu CP, Zu S, Vanoverloop L, Randall D (2002) Rigid
polyurethane foam prepared from a rape seed oil based polyol. J Appl Polym Sci
84:591-597

2. Petrovic ZS, Guo A, Zhang W (2000) Structure and properties of polyurethanes based
on halogenated and nonhalogenated soy-polyols. J Polym Sci: Part A: Polym Chem
38:4062-4069
3. Guo A, Javni I, Petrovic ZS (2000) Rigid polyurethane foams based on soybean oil. J
Appl Polym Sci 77:467-473
4.

Simone C, Godoy, Ferrao MF, Annelise E. Gerbase (2007) Determination of the
Hydroxyl Value of Soybean Polyol by Attenuated Total Reflectance/Fourier
Transform Infrared Spectroscopy. J Am Oil Chem Soc 84:503-508

5.

Ratnayake WMN, Pelletier G (1996) Methyl esters from a partially hydrogenated
vegetable oil is a better infrared external standard than methyl elaidate from the
measurement of total trans content. J Am Oil Chem Soc 73:1165-1169

6.

Russin TA, Van de Voort FR, Sedman J (2004) Rapid Determination of oxidative
stability of edible oils by FTIR spectroscopy using disposable IR cards. J Am Oil
Chem Soc 81:111-116

7. Seedman J, Van de Voort FR, Ismail AA (1997) Upgrading the AOCS infrared trans
method for analysis of neat fats and oil by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. J
Am Oil Chem Soc 74:907-913
8. Moh MH, Man YBC, Van de Voort FR, Abdullah WJW (1999) Determination of
peroxide value in thermally oxidized crude palm oil by near infrared spectroscopy. J
Am Oil Chem Soc 76:19-23
9.

Seedman J, Van de Voort FR, Ismail AA, Maes P (1998) Industrial validation of
Fourier transform infrared trans and iodine value analyses of fats and oils. J Am Oil
Chem Soc 75:33-39

10. Parreira TF, Ferreira MMC, Sales HJS, Almeida WB (2002) Quantitative
determination of epoxidized soybean oil using near infrared spectroscopy and
multivariate calibration. Appl Spectrosc 56:1607-1614

99

11. Pastia L, Jouan-Rimbauda D, Massarta DL, de Noord ON (1998) Application of
Fourier transform to multivariate calibration of near-infrared data. Anal Chim Acta
364:253-263
12. Crisler RO, Burrill AM, (1959) Determination of Hydroxyl Value of Alcohols by
Near-Infrared Spectroscopy. Anal Chem 31(12):2055-2057
13. Miller KL, Curtin D (1994) On-line NIR monitoring of polyols, Instrumentation for
the process industries, 49th annual symposium, College Station Tex
14. Heikka RA, Immonen KT, Minkkinen PO, Paatero EYO, Salmi TO (1997)
Determination of acid value, hydroxyl value and water content in reactions between
dicarboxylic acids and diols using near-infrared spectroscopy and non-linear partial
least squares regression. Anal Chim Acta 349:287-294
15. Zareyee D, Karimi B (2007) A novel and highly efficient method for the silylation of
alcohols with hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) catalyzed by recyclable sulfonic acidfunctionalized ordered nanoporous silica. Tetrahedr, Lett. 48:1277-1280
16. Ahlers NHE. McTaggart NG (1954) The Determination of Hydroxyl, Ketone and
Ester Groups in Autoxidised Fatty Esters and Related Compounds by Infra-red
Spectroscopy. Analyst, 79:70-76

100

Chapter - 5 Evaluation of PU coatings derived from soymeal polyol and castor oil

5.1 Introduction
Polyurethanes are one of the most versatile polymeric materials available today
[1]. Polyurethanes are generally produced by the addition of two components,
isocyanates and polyols. A wide variety of raw materials can be used for these
components, resulting in polyurethanes with an enormous range of different property
profiles. By proper selection of these reagents, polyurethanes with a wide range of
applications from flexible foams in upholstered furniture, rigid insulation foams in walls
and roofs, thermoplastic materials used in medical devices and footwear, coatings,
adhesives, sealants and elastomers used on floors and automotive interiors can be
synthesized [2]. However, conventional PU paints usually contain a significant amount
of organic solvents and in certain cases even free isocyanate monomers [3]. Increased
strict regulations on emissions to protect the environment and health have induced the PU
manufacturers to increasingly eliminate solvents from PU formulations. Recently,
waterborne dispersions have been developed where the water is a diluent and the binder
is present in a dispersed phase. These environmentally friendly waterborne PUs have
several advantages over conventional solventborne systems and are increasingly finding
applications in inks, adhesives and various protective or decorative coatings [4].

In the PU industry, only a few polyisocyanates are commonly used, while a
variety of polyols are available and therefore the choice of polyol typically determines
the properties of the synthesized polyurethane [5]. Most of the polyols currently used for

101

the production of polyurethanes are based on polyethers derived from petro-fossil
feedstock [6]. Due to increasing oil prices, global warming and other environmental
concerns, there is an increasing need for change over from fossil feedstocks to biobased
renewable resources. Furthermore, switching from the petro-fossil carbon feedstock to a
bio-renewable carbon feedstock offers the “value proposition” of a reduced material
carbon and environmental footprint [7, 8]. The increasing awareness about
environmentally friendly materials produced from annually renewable biodegradable
resources have led to intensified research on the production of chemicals and polymeric
materials [9].
Vegetable oils are an important renewable source for producing polyols.
Vegetable oils have a number of excellent properties and a wide variety of polymers such
as alkyd resins [10], epoxys [11], polyamides [12], vinyl polymers [13-16] and PUs [1723] are synthesized. In addition, various vegetable oils such as soybean oil [24], canola
oil [25], palm oil[26,27], sunflower oil, corn oil, and linseed oil [28,29] have been
extensively used as base materials for synthesizing polyols used to manufacture PUs with
high thermal stability and mechanical properties. In comparison, only little attention has
been directed towards utilization of biomass protein obtained after extraction of the oil
for value-added polymeric materials. This raw material is rich in carboxylic acids and
amines that can be utilized in the production of polyesters, polyamides, polyurea and
polyurethanes. For example, soybean, which is abundantly available and low in cost, can
provide a sustainable alternative source to petrochemicals. Soybean is composed of
protein and oil that can open the door for a variety of uses. Soy oil, constituting about
18% of the bean has already been used in the polyol market, as mentioned above.

102

Soybean meal is the product remaining after extracting the oil from the soybeans.
Soybean meal, which makes up to 80% of the soybean, is high in protein content and
primarily serves as animal feed for swine, chickens, cattle, horse, sheep and fish.
Currently, only a small percentage of the soybean meal is being utilized for industrial
purposes, mainly for synthesis of adhesives, insectides, paints, paper coatings, fireresistant coatings, cosmetics, printing inks and emulsions. To the best of our knowledge,
no other studies are available in the literature utilizing soybean meal as a renewable
biomass resource for synthesizing polyols.
In this work, a novel route to the synthesis of biobased polyols from soymeal is
reported. The overall process includes alcoholic treatment to remove the soluble
carbohydrates from the meal, acid hydrolysis of soy proteins to individual amino acids or
low molecular weight peptides, amination of the hydrolyzed product mixture with
ethylene diamine followed by reacting the aminated hydrolyzate with cyclic ethylene
carbonate. Waterborne PU dispersions were then prepared and their coatings weres
investigated and are reported here. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, end group
analysis using amine, acid and OH values were used to characterize the polyols. In
addition, the thermal properties, barrier properties against water vapor and oxygen
permeation, contact angle and cobb value tests of the PU coatings from the newly
developed soymeal polyols and castor oil were compared.

5.2 Literature review
The important chemical reactions of isocyanates that can take place in the
production of polyurethanes are:

103

H
N

R1- OH

O
R1

R
O

Polyurethane
H2O

H
N

H
N

R

R

CO2

O

R-NCO

Polyurea

Polyisocyanate
H
N

R2-COOH

R2

CO2

R
O

Amide
O

Polyurethane

R

R
N

OR

NH

O

Allophanate
Figure 5.1: Reactions of polyisocyanates in PU coating systems

The basic reaction, which occurs in all PU coating systems is the NCO/OH reaction
between the polyisocyanate and the polyol reaction (Figure 5.1). The main ancillary
reaction takes place between the polyisocyanate and water and leads to the formation of
polyurea. Other possible reactions, that can occur are the reactions between the carboxyl
groups of the polyol and the polyisocyanate to form amide bonds and between the newly
formed polyurethane and the polyisocyanate to form an allophanate reaction.

104

Polyurethane coatings can be commercially produced using a single component
(1K) system or a two component (2K) system. In a 1K system, the prepolymer is
prepared by reacting one or more polyols with a stoichiometric excess of isocyanate. The
isocyanate functionality is retained in the pre-polymer but has an increased shelf life and
lower volatility compared to pure isocyanates. The pre-polymer is then mixed with
catalysts, plasticizers, fillers, antioxidants and adhesion promoters. In this system, when
dispensed, the prepolymer reacts with ambient moisture to cure and a thermoset
polyurethane film is left behind. In a 2K system, the polyols and additives are blended
together to make up one of the two components and the isocyanate or prepolymer makes
up the second component. The two components are then mixed on site to cure the system.
The reaction begins immediately after mixing and continues for a time after the solvent
has evaporated. The resultant films from the 2K systems are usually highly crosslinked
but also requires the ability to mix separate components at the proper ratio. PU coatings
have been classified by ASTM into six different groups in the ASTM D16 Standard [30].
The characteristics of the six ASTM PU coating types are summarized in Table 5.1.

105

ASTM
description

Characteristics

Curing
mechanism

Polymer

Table 5.1: Different types of coatings by ASTM classification
Type I one
Type II one Type III
Type IV two Type V
package (prepackage
one
package
two
reacted)
(moisture
package
(catalyst)
package
cured)
(heat
(polyol)
cured)
Unsaturated
Contains
Blocked
Isocyanate
Part A:
drying oil
free
isocyanate
prepolymer
isocyanate
modified; no free isocyanate
and catalyst
rich, Part
isocyanate
B: polyols
or amines
Oxidation of
Reaction
Thermal
Reaction of
Reaction
drying oil; solvent with
release of
isocyanate
between
evaporation
atmospheric blocking
with moisture Parts A
moisture
agent and
and
and B;
then
or/component instant
reaction
s in catalysts
curing is
possible
Alcoholysis
Higher
Prepolymer Prepolymer
Relatively
products of
molecular
forms an
similar to type lower
drying oils
weight diols adduct with II but catalyst molecular
reacted with
and triols
blocking
could contain weight
isocyanate
agents
polyol/amine

106

Type VI one
package
(non-reactive
lacquer)
Fully
polymerized
PUs dissolved
in solvents
Solvent
evaporation

Thermoplastic
polymer with
relatively high
molecular
weight

5.2.1 Isocyanates, polyols and catalysts
Aromatic, aliphatic, cycloaliphatic or polycyclic structured isocyanates are used in the
synthesis of PU coatings. Some of the commonly used isocyanates are toluene diisocyanate
(TDI), methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI), 4,4’-dicyclohexylmethane diisocyanate
(H12MDI), hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI), isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI), xylene
diisocyanate (XDI),

tetramethyle-xylene diisocyanate

(TMXDI),

hydrogenated

xylene

diisocyanate (HXDI), naphthalene 1,5-diisocyanate (NDI), p-phenylene diisocyanate (PPDI),
3,3’-dimethyldiphenyl-4, 4’-diisocyanate (DDDI), 2,2,4-trimethyl-hexamethylene diisocyanate
(TMDI), norbornane diisocyanate (NDI), 4,4’-dibenzyl diisocyanate (DBDI), etc. The reactivity
of aromatic isocyanates is higher than the reactivity of aliphatic or cycloaliphatic diisocyanates.
Aromatic diisocyanates produce more rigid PUs than the aliphatic ones, but also have lower
oxidative and ultraviolet stability [31]. Thus the properties of the PUs vary with different
diisocyanates.
Different polyols or a mixture of polyols can be used for the synthesis of PU coatings.
Polyether polyols (polypropylene glycol, polyethylene glycol, polycaprolactone diol), polyester
polyols, polycarbonate polyol and acrylic polyols are some of the petro-based polyols widely
used. Simple polyols like glycols, such as ethylene glycol, 1,4-butane diol and 1,6-hexane diol
are also used. Bio-based polyols synthesized from renewable resources are also increasingly
finding their applications in PU coatings. Castor oils [32,33], chemically modified soybean oil
[34,35,36,37], rapeseed oil based polyols [38,39] and Jatropha oil based polyols [40] are some of
the vegetable oil based polyols, where the PUs derived therefrom exhibited excellent chemical
and physical properties, including enhanced thermal and hydrolytic stability [ 41,42,43,44]. The

107

functionality of the hydroxyl-containing polyols can be adjusted, leading to a wide variety of
branched or crosslinked polyurethanes. Low molecular weight polyols result in hard and stiff
polymers, while the use of the higher molecular weight polyols produces polymer chains with
fewer urethane groups and more flexible alkyl chains.

Short-chain polyols of higher

functionality (greater than 3) give more rigid, crosslinked products, while the long-chain polyols
with low functionality (1.8-3.0) give soft, elastomeric PUs.
Catalysts are added to the PU formulations to increase the rate of reaction at lower
temperatures and many effective urethane catalysts are available. The catalysts used most often
are organo tin compounds like dibutyltin dilaurate (DBTDL), stannous octoate THORCAT [45],
and tertiary amines like triethyl amine (TEA) and 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2] octane (DABCO) [46].

5.2.2 Waterborne polyurethane dispersions
Polyurethanes are used commercially in the form of liquid solventborne and waterborne
coatings. Increased strict regulations on emissions to protect the environment and health have
induced coating manufacturers to increasingly eliminate solvents from coating systems. In the
meantime, Water has proved to be the substitute solvent of choice, in which the binders are
present in a dispersed phase, no longer as a solution, and marketed as waterborne dispersions.
New types of resins for binder dispersions and additives are required for the waterborne coating
technologies to fulfill high quality requirements [47,48]. The particle size of the PU in the
aqueous dispersion tends to be about 20-200 nm, and the particles have high surface energy,
which results in a strong driving force for film formation after water evaporation. PU polymers
are usually not soluble in water and the particle size distributions in the polyurethane dispersions

108

(PUDs) are greatly influenced by the degree of hydrophilicity. Therefore structural modifications
of the polymer are necessary for it to be dispersible in water. This can be achieved by
incorporating hydrophilic groups such as ionomers into the polymer backbone which act as
internal emulsifiers or by adding external emulsifiers. Therefore PU backbone with the PU
ionomer consisting of a pendant acid or tertiary nitrogen groups are completely or partially
neutralized to form salts, which form stable dispersions in aqueous medium (Figure 5.2).
HO

OCN

OH

NCO

R

OH

COOH

Diisocyanates

Diol

OH

DMPA

O

O

O

O

R
NCO

N
H

O

R
O

N
H

R
N
H

O

O

N
H

COOH

NCO

NCO Terminated Prepolymer

Neutralization

O

O

R
NCO

N
H

O

COO- N(Et)3+

O

O

R
O

N
H

R
N
H

O

O

Dispersion & Chain Extension

Figure 5.2: Synthesis of anionic waterborne PU dispersions

109

N
H

NCO

Waterborne PUDs can be broadly classified into two categories: anionic and cationic
dispersions [49]. In the anionic PUDs, dimethylol propionic acid (DMPA) containing two
hydroxyl groups and one free carboxylic group is commonly incorporated into the PU backbone.
This intermediate is typically produced using an acetone process, a prepolymer mixing process, a
ketamine/ketazine process or a hot melt process [53,54, 49]. The carboxylic groups in the
prepolymer are subsequently neutralized with triethylamine for effective water dispersions
[50,51,52,] (as in Figure 5.2). Cationic PU dispersions are synthesized by incorporating tertiary
amines into the PU backbone and quarternized with a protonic acid or alkylating agent, which
forms the water-soluble group in the polymer. Cationic dispersions, because of their application
properties, are of lesser importance than anionic dispersions and are used in special applications
[54].

Isocyanates are used as the cross-linkers in the synthesis of PU dispersions. They react
readily with water and because of this reactivity it was assumed for many years that they could
not be directly used in waterborne systems. However, in the last few years, hydrophilically
modified polyisocyanates were developed and adopted commercially on a large scale [55,56].
The pioneering work in the production of hydrophilic polyisocyanates was done by Bayers. For
the production of hydrophilic isocyanates, chemically binding emulsifying components (internal
emulsification) were introduced to the polyisocyanate. This strategy suppresses the migration
tendency of free emulsifiers in the coating (external emulsification) which can lead to problems
with water resistance such as gloss decrease or blistering. Consequently, hydrophilic
polyisocyanates can be produced by reacting a fraction of the –NCO groups on a polyisocyanate
(such as HDI or IPDI isocyanurate) with a polyglycol monoether [57, 58]. Figure 5.3 shows an

110

example of polyether modified hydrophilic polyisocyanate. However this reaction will lower the
functionality of the polyisocyanates and can influence the final performance of the coatings. In
order to increase the functionality, the allophanate structure had been introduced to the previous
molecule as shown in Figure 5.4. The aminosulfonate modified polyisocyanates (Figure 5.5)
represents the 3rd generation of hydrophilic polyisocyanate crosslinkers with significant
advantages over polyether modified types, providing improved drying, hardness and chemical
resistance [59].

111

O

H

OCN

N
N

O

O

N

O

O

O

O
O

R

O
O

N

O

OCN

Figure 5.3: 1st generation, polyether modified hydrophilic polyisocyanate
O
OCN
N

O

N

N

O

OCN

H

N

O

O
OCN

N
N

O

N

O
O

O
O

O
O

O
O

N

O

OCN

Figure 5.4: 2nd generation, polyether modified hydrophilic polyisocyanate (allophanate)

112

R

O

H

OCN

N
N

N

N

O
O

N

SO 3- +NR3H
R

O

OCN

Figure 5.5: 3rd generation, aminosulfonate modified hydrophilic polyisocyanate

113

5.2.3 Application of PU dispersions
Figure 5.6 shows the various applications of polyurethane coatings. PU coatings have
dominated the industrial finishes market for several decades because of their ability to create
highly-crosslinked surface coatings.

Total PU
coatings in
2010 was
333x106 lbs

Figure 5.6: Breakdown of the US coating market in 2010
This crosslinking property results in desirable properties including high durability with
excellent flexibility, superior gloss and protection from corrosion, humidity, wear and chemicals.
Polyurethane coatings are widely used in the automotive refinish and large vehicle coating areas
and in metal, wood, plastic, glass and textile coating. They are also widely used in ship paints
and about about one in four cars produced worldwide today are coated with a polyurethane clear
coat. They are also widely used in construction applications, such as floor and balcony coatings
and increasingly gaining importance in pipeline coatings [60].

114

5.2.4 Castor oil based polyurethanes
Castor oil, like many other natural oils, is widely used in industry and is obtained from
the seed of the castor plant (Ricinus communis). The primary sources of castor oil are from
India, China and Brazil, with India being the world’s largest exporter of castor oil with a 70% of
the total exports. The major importing countries are the USA, Russia and Japan [61]. Castor oil
is a triglyceride of fatty acids, with approximately 90% ricinoleic acid, an 18-carbon acid having
a double bond in the 9-10 position and hydroxyl group on the 12th carbon (Figure 5.7). The
composition of castor oil is shown in Table 5.2. Castor oil is the only natural oil with a unique
combination of hydroxyl groups and unsaturation in its chemical structure. Scientific literature
reveals that regardless of its country of origin or season in which it was grown, the chemical
composition of the castor oil remains relatively constant [62].
Castor oil has certain characteristics like high lubricity, high viscosity over a wide range
of temperatures, insolubility in aliphatic petrochemical fuels and solvents, and is used for many
applications including base oil formulations for lubricants, functional fluids and process oils,
feedstock for fuels and oleochemicals, reactive components for paints, coatings and inks,
polymers and foams [63,64,65].

Figure 5.7: Structure of castor oil

115

Table 5.2: Castor oil composition. [62]
Fatty acid

Molecular formula

Percentage [%]

Palmitic

C16H32O2

0.8 – 1.1

Stearic

C18H36O2

0.7 – 1.0

Oleic

C18H34O2

2.2 – 3.3

Linoleic

C18H32O2

4.1 – 3.3

Linolenic

C18H30O2

0.5 – 0.7

Ricinoleic

C18H34O3

87.7 – 90.4

Petro-based hydrocarbon feedstocks are being increasingly replaced by renewable
vegetable oils for polyols in the synthesis of polyurethanes as they are cost competitive and offer
environmentally friendly alternatives [66]. Castor oil has an average functionality of 2.7 and is
the only commercially available naturally occurring polyol produced directly by nature. Thus,
castor oil is being used for synthesizing a variety of polyurethane products ranging from
coatings, cast elastomers, thermoplastic elastomers, rigid foams, semi-rigid foams, flexible
foams, adhesives and sealants.
There are advantages as well as disadvantages of directly utilizing the castor oil as a
polyol in rigid polyurethane formulations. The advantages are water resistance and flexibility,
while low functionality and low reactivity due to the secondary hydroxyl groups are some of the
disadvantages [67]. These disdvantages can be overcome by reacting the castor oil with polyols
such as glycerol, resulting in a higher hydroxyl number which can be utilized for synthesizing
rigid PU foams with good physico-mechanical properties. Compared to PU prepared from pure

116

castor oils, glycerol modified PU products clearly exhibit higher tensile strength, lower
elongation at break and chemical resistance. However glycerol is unstable at higher temperatures
and can lead to formation of unsaturated compounds at elevated temperatures by elimination of
water. This problem can be solved by replacing glycerol with other alcohols such as
trimethylolpropane [68] or pentaerythritol [69, 70], which unlike glycerol do not contain βhydrogen atoms. Valero et al. [71] reacted pentaerythritol-modified castor oil with yucca starch
derived glycosides to generate polyol glycosides which were later reacted with isophorone
diiscocyanate to obtain polyurethanes. These polyurethanes showed excellent chemical
resistance, hardness and tensile strength compared to the polyurethanes synthesized from
unmodified castor oil. Petrovic et al. [72] investigated transesterification of substantially pure
polyricinoleic acid methyl esters with trimethylol propane to obtain new non-cystallizing triols
with varying molecular weights and low viscosity. These polyols were further reacted with
methylene diphenyl diiscocyanate (MDI) to obtain elastomers having glass transition
temperatures, Tg, below – 60oC. Karak et al. [73] reported the synthesis of hyperbranched
thermoplastic PU, derived from castor oil, a macroglycol [e.g. poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL)-diol
or PEG], and MDI, with or without chain extender. The hard-segment content, the nature of the
macroglycol and the composition of the polymers had prominent effects on thermal and
crystallization properties. Higher crystallinity and higher thermal stability were resulted from a
higher hard segment content, while PUs with PEG as soft segments have higher melting points,
in comparison to PCL-diol (58.8oC for PEG based and 48.3oC for PCL-diol, respectively). A
novel green poly(ether-ester urethane) insulating coating based on polyols derived from
glycolyzed poly-ethylene terephtalate (PET), castor oil, adipic acid and a blocked isocyanate

117

made from trimethylol propane, toluene diisocyanate (TDI) and N-methyl aniline were also
reported [74]. It was observed that excellent mechanical properties, 326.1% elongation at break,
16.88 MPa tensile strength, as well as superior electrical insulation characteristics were observed
in the cases of PU based on the lowest-molecular weight polyols. Furthermore, phenyl
diisocyanate-modified difunctional castor oil or its blends with poly(propylene glycol) with two
different ratios of 1,4-butane diol as chain extender and TDI were used for synthesizing PU
elastomers [75].
Composites prepared from oil-based polymers are gaining prominence in recent years. A
graphite composite used as an electrode material was made by a PU resin made from castor oil
[76]. Good mechanical properties, appropriate electric resistance, ease of preparation and surface
reformation were observed in these composites synthesized using castor oil based PUs. Metal
filled castor oil based PUs were synthesized and their gel points were predicted [77]. The
gelation time depended on the process temperature, OH content, functionality of polyol and also
the amount of filler used. Furthermore, the synthesis of biodegradable PU based on castor oil and
PEG through the reaction of epoxy-terminated PU prepolymers (EPU) with 1,6-hexamethylene
diamine (HMDA) as the curing agent was also reported in the literature[78]. The introduction of
hydrophilic polyols into the backbone of vegetable oil based PU increased the degradation rate
due to enhancement in water permeability and increase in the surface and bulk hydrophilicities.
In addition, utilization of castor oil or modified castor oil in the synthesis of interpenetrating
polymer networks (IPN) was reviewed and extensively reported in the literature [79-87].

118

5.3 Materials and methods
Ethylenediamine (ED), ethylene carbonate (EC), Dimethylolpropionic acid (DMPA),
isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI), methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), triethylamine (TEA) and dibutlytin
dilaurate (DBTL), as well as all the reagents required for the titrations (e.g. butanol, pyridine,
acetic anhydride, hydrochloric acid, hydroxide potassium, phenolphthalein and bromophenol
blue) were purchased from Sigma Aldrich. Defatted soymeal was obtained from Zeeland farms,
Michigan. All chemicals were used as received unless otherwise noted.

5.3.1 Measurements
5.3.1.1 Attenuated total reflection-fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR)
The ATR-FTIR spectra were acquired on a FT-IR (Shimadsu Co., Tokyo, Japan,
IRAffinity-1) equipped with a single reflection ATR system (PIKE Technologies, Madison,
USA, MIRacle ATR).
5.3.1.2 End group analysis
Acid values (mgKOH/g) were determined in accordance with ASTM D1980-87. Samples
were dissolved in water and were then titrated with 0.2N KOH in water in the presence of
phenolphthalein as indicator. Amine values (mgKOH/g) were determined in accordance with
ASTM D2073-92. Samples were dissolved in water and were then titrated with freshly
standardized 0.2N HCl in water by using bromophenol blue solution as indicator. Hydroxyl
values were determined according to ASTM D1957-86 . Samples were dissolved in pyridine
containing acetic anhydride solution and boiled using a steambath of 2 hours. The solution was
then cooled down with distilled water. The remaining acetic anhydride was thus transformed into

119

acetic acid. Butanol was added to the solution and the remaining acetic acid was titrated with
freshly standardized 0.2N KOH in methanol using phenolphthalein as indicator.
5.3.1.3 Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC)
DSC measurements were performed using DSC Q2000 TA Instruments under nitrogen
flow. To determine the thermal properties profile, a sample (5-10 mg placed in an aluminium
pan) was heated up to 100 °C at 10 °C/min, held at this temperature for 3 min to remove the
thermal history, then cooled to -70 °C at 10 °C/min and finally heated again to 100 °C at 10
°C/min. The glass transition temperature Tg was determined from the inflection point. This value
was determined from the second heating scan.
5.3.1.4 Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA)
TGA measurements were conducted under nitrogen flow using a Hi-Res TGA 2950
apparatus from TA Instruments. In a typical experiment, a sample (10-20 mg placed in an
aluminium pan) was heated up to 550 °C at 10 °C/min. The characteristic degradation
temperatures were taken as the temperature at the maximum of the derivative thermogram
(DTG) curve (Tdmax) for each degradation step and at which the sample weight equaled 95%
(T95%).
5.3.1.5 Barrier properties against water vapor and oxygen permeation
Permatran - W 3/31 Water vapor permeability instrument from Mocon, Inc., Minneapolis
was used for testing the WVTR of various polyurethane coatings made on a standard paper
substrate (Form WB, from Lenetta) at a temperature of 23 oC, barometric pressure 760 mm Hg,
and relative humidity (100%). An OX-TRAN Model 2/21 Mocon instrument was used for testing
the oxygen transmission rates at a temperature of 23 oC, barometric pressure 1 atm, relative

120

humidity (0-5%) and a permeant concentration of 100%. The thickness of the coatings was
measured using a digital micrometer and recorded. The coated samples were masked using
aluminium foil with a surface area exposure of 3.14 cm2.
5.3.1.6 Water absorption resistance test of coatings (Cobb test)
Cobb test samples were cut into 12.5 cm x 12.5 cm square sizes and weighed. The samples
were then placed on a neoprene mat and held tightly by clamping on a 100 cm2 Cobb cylinder.
100 ml of water was poured on the sample surface and the timer was commenced at the same
time. After 1 minute 45 seconds (for the 2 minute test and after 29 minutes 45 seconds for the 30
minute test), the water was poured from the Cobb cylinder, taking care not to drop any water on
the portion of the sample outside of the 100 cm2 ring. The sample was then removed, placed on a
sheet of blotting paper with the wetted side up, covered with a second blotting paper on the top
and rolled once forward and once backward using a 10 kg roller to remove any excess water. The
sample was then re-weighed again and the Cobb value was measured according to the following
equation.

Cobb Value (gsm) =

5.3.1.7 Scanning electron microscopy
The morphology of the cross-section and the surface of the PU coated sheets was observed
by scanning electron microscopy (JEOL 6610LV SEM, JEOL Ltd., Tokyo, Japan). The sheets
were fractured in liquid nitrogen to preserve the cross-section and then sputter coated with
osmium (≈ 20 nm thickness) in an NEOC-AT osmium coater (Meiwafosis Co., Ltd., Osaka,
Japan) prior to being viewed under the microscope.

121

5.4 Experimental procedures
5.4.1 Soymeal-based polyurethane dispersions
5.4.1.1 Aqueous alcoholic treatment of soymeal
Defatted soymeal (880 g) was added to a 5000 ml three necked round bottom flask fitted
with a mechanical stirrer and washed with 2000 ml of 60% ethanol water solution under
continous stirring for 3 hours. The soymeal was then allowed to settle down and the supernatant
alcoholic mixture is drained out. This procedure was repeated twice to remove soluble
carbohydrates and dried in a oven at 80oC overnight. The alcohol treated soymeal (700 g) was
then hydrolyzed with HCl, followed by neutralization with NaOH, amination with
Ethylenediamine, and reacted with ethylene carbonate to synthesize soymeal polyol similar to
the procedures mentioned in Chapter 2.

5.4.1.2 Synthesis of soymeal polyurethane dispersions
Soymeal polyol (15.1 g, 0.12 equivalents of OH), DMPA (8.4 g, 0.12 equivalents of OH),
IPDI (28.5 g, 0.26 equivalents of NCO), 1 drop of dibutyltin dilaurate and 50 ml of MEK solvent
were added to a 500 ml three necked round bottom flask fitted with a mechanical stirrer, nitrogen
inlet, condenser and heated in an oil bath. The ratio of the NCO groups to the OH groups present
in the soymeal polyol, DMPA as well as the secondary amines present in the soymeal polyol is
taken to be 1.03. The reaction was carried out at 78oC for 3 hours under continous stirring. The
reaction mixture was then cooled down to 60oC and triethylamine (6.3 g, 1.0 equivalent of
DMPA) was added to neutralize the free carboxylic groups present in the PU chains and stirred
for another 30 minutes. Then water (158 g) was added to the pre-polymer and it was vigorously

122

agitated for 1 hour to obtain a stable dispersion of 20% solid content. The polyurethane
dispersions were then applied on coating paper (Form - WB, purchased from Leneta) using a
wire-wound coating rod (0.5 mil guage, BYK instruments) and then dried under ambient
conditions for 72 hours.
5.4.2 Synthesis of castor oil based polyurethane dispersions (CO-PUDs)
Castor oil (83.97 g, 0.24 OH molar equivalents), DMPA (18.28 g, 0.26 OH molar
equivalents), IPDI (57.32 g, 0.51 NCO molar equivalents) and 3 drops of dibutyltin dilaurate
along with methyl ethyl ketone (106 g) were added to a 1000 ml three necked round bottom flask
and stirred continuously for 3 hours at a temperature of 78oC by heating using an oil bath. The
ratio of the NCO/OH groups used in the reaction was 1.03/1.0. After 3 hours of reaction, the
reaction mixture was cooled down to 60oC and the carboxylic groups present in the polymer
backbone were neutralized by adding triethylamine (13.79 g; 0.14 moles; 1.0 equiv. for DMPA)
and it was stirred for another 30 minutes. After cooling down the mixture to room temperature,
water (414 g) was added to the reaction mixture and it was stirred vigorously for another 1 hour
to obtain a waterborne polyurethane dispersions with approximately 25% solid content. The PU
dispersions were coated on a cellophane substrate using a wire-wound coating rod (0.5 mil
guage, BYK instruments) and then dried under ambient conditions for 72 hours.

5.5 Results and discussion
5.5.1 Soymeal polyol PUDs
The flow chart for the synthesis of polyurethane dispersions from soymeal is shown in
Figure 5.8. The carbohydrate content in the soymeal before and after the alcoholic treatment
were determined according to ASTM E1758-95 (Standard Test Method for Determination of

123

Carbohydrates in Biomass by High Performance Liquid Chromatography). Papyrus wood
samples were taken as the control for determining the accuracy of the method and the soymeal
samples before and after alcoholic treatment were analyzed in duplicate and the results are
reported on a dry weight basis as given in Table 5.3.
Table 5.3: Carbohydrate content analysis in soymeal
Samples
% Glucan
% Xylan
% Galactan
Wood

45.10±0.39

17.47±0.27

9.05±0.12

Soymeal

10.99±0.43

2.36±0.00

8.16±0.00

Alcohol
treated
soymeal

6.33±0.02

1.47±0.07

6.63±0.34

This method requires the soymeal samples to be finely ground, followed by two stage
hydrolysis using concentrated sulphuric acid (74%) in the first stage for 1 hour, and hydrolysis
using diluted sulphuric acid (4%) in the second stage (2 hours). Then the hydrolyzate was diluted
using calcium carbonate, and the carbohydrate content analyzed using HPLC. The carbohydrate
content in the papyrus wood was taken as the control for determining the accuracy of the test
method. The carbohydrate content in the soymeal was 10.99% glucan, 2.36 % zylan, 8.16%
galactan. The carbohydrate content in the ethanol-water treated soymeal was 6.33% glucan,
1.46% xylan, 6.6% galactan on a dry weight basis. Generally, there are three major methods for
extracting the carbohydrates from the defatted soymeal to synthesize soy protein concentrates;
the aqueous alcohol wash process, acid wash process, and the water wash process. These
methods are commonly used to synthesize soy protein concentrates without solubilizing the
major protein fractions. These are not different methods for manufacturing the same product, but
each method produces a different type of concentrate, with distinct characteristics and specific

124

uses [88]. The aqueous alcoholic treatment using 60% ethanol-water solution was employed in
our case to remove the carbohydrates from the defatted soymeal. The ethanol/water extraction
process allows the removal of soy oligosaccharides and soluble non-starch polysaccharides.
Ethanol extraction achieves a 90% reduction in the oligosaccharides in the soybean meal [89].
The carbohydrate composition of the soybean varies according to the geographical locations
where the soybean was grown, harvest conditions and post-harvest processing [90]. Besides the
variation due to genotype and origin of the soybean, the carbohydrate content may also be related
to the method of analysis [91]. According to Elridge et. al (1979) [92], the carbohydrate content
in the defatted soy flour was 10.9% glucan, 0.97% xylan, 7.6% galactan and the carbohydrate
content in the soy protein concentrate was 5.06% glucan, 0.92% xylan, 5.69% galactan. The
carbohydrate content for the defatted soymeal and alcohol treated soymeal obtained by our
analysis closely matches with the results mentioned in the literature.

125

Alcohol

Soymeal

Water

Carbohydrate
removal
HCl

Hydrolysis

NaOH

Neutralization

Filtration
Water
Distillation

ED

Amination

EC

Soymeal Polyol

IPDI

NCO terminated
prepolyomer

TEA

Neutralization

DMPA

Water

Soymeal PUDs

Figure 5.8: Flow chart for the synthesis of PUDs from soymeal

126

Absorbance

C=O urethane

Soymeal polyol
N-H bend
amide

C=O
amide

Aminated hydrolyzate

COO-

Soymeal hydrolyzate
1900

1600

1300

1000

Wave number [cm-1]

Figure 5.9: FTIR of soymeal polyol and its intermediates
The soymeal hydrolyzate as analysed by FTIR in Figure 5.9 shows a peak at 1625 cm-1
which was typical of C=O stretch of carboxylic acids in the amino acid mixture. The protection
of carboxylic groups in the hydrolyzate by ethylene diamine to yield the aminated hydrolyzate
was confirmed by FTIR. Significant changes observed from soymeal hydrolyzate to aminated
hydrolyzate spectrum was the shift in the C=O stretch from 1625 cm-1 to 1656 cm-1 , typical of
C=O stretch of amides. In the next step, after the reaction of aminated hydrolyzate with ethylene
carbonate to synthesize hydroxy-terminated soymeal polyols, the formation of urethane groups in
this reaction was confirmed by the appearance of a peak corresponding to C=O stretch of
urethane groups at 1697 cm-1. The end group analysis of soymeal polyol and its intermediates is
given in Table 5.4.

127

Table 5.4: End group analysis of soymeal polyol
Amine value
Acid value
Hydroxyl value
(mgKOH/g)
(mgKOH/g)
(mgKOH/g)
Calc.

Exp.

Cal.

Exp.

Calc.

Exp.

Soy hydrolyzate

483.7

33.7± 0.8

549.4

64.9± 1.2

-

-

Aminated
hydrolyzate

726.7

517.8± 9.5

0

6.1± 3.1

-

-

0

50.1± 4.9

0

-

456.23

435.74± 6.2

Soymeal polyol

128

The amine and acid values of soymeal hydrolyzate do not match with the calculated
values due to the zwitterionic nature of the amino acids. A significant increase in the amine value
of aminated hydrolyzate (517.8 mgKOH/g) was observed, followed by a decrease in the acid
value (6.1 mgKOH/g), indicating the protection of carboxylic groups followed by the addition of
ethylene diamine upon amidation. The decrease in the amine value (50.1 mgKOH/g) followed by
the hydroxyl value (435.74 mgKOH/g) signifies the conversion of amines to hydroxylterminated soymeal polyols.
The FTIR spectra of soymeal polyol based PU films are shown in Figure 5.10. The peak
at 2958 cm-1 was assigned to C-H symmetric bending vibration of -CH3, N-H stretching
vibration at 3329 cm-1 , N-H bending vibration at 1543 cm-1, C=O stretch of urethanes at 1697
cm-1 and the -NCO group at 2273 cm-1 did not appear, implying that a complete reaction of NCO of IPDI with -OH of soymeal polyol had occurred.
0.35
0.30

1699 cm-1

Absorbance

0.25
0.20
0.15
0.10
0.05
0.00
4000

3500

3000

2500

2000

1500

1000

500

Wave number [cm-1]

Figure 5.10: FTIR spectra of coatings made using soymeal polyol PUDs

129

TGA and its derivative thermograms of soymeal polyol PUD films under nitrogen
atmosphere are shown in Figure 5.11, Tg, T98%, Tdmax and T5% data are listed in Table 5.5. A
small and monotonous weight loss was observed from 70 °C to 174°C, most probably related to
methyl ethyl ketone and water evaporation. The first stage of degradation involved minor
degradation at 174 °C and then the main degradation at 228 °C. Urethane bonds are known to
dissociate and re-associate simultaneously starting around 160 °C with irreversible degradation
above 200 °C. Two different mechanisms of degradation of urethane bonds were proposed in the
literature; one relates to the formation of primary amines and olefins and the other involves the
formation of secondary amines [93]. The second stage of degradation started at an onset
temperature of 272°C with the maximum degradation at 335°C, which could possibly be the
degradation of amide groups derived from soymeal polyol [94], followed by dehydrogenation
and depolycondensation of alkyl groups of polyol [95].
1.6

1.0

1.4
0.8

1.0

0.6

0.8
0.4

0.6
0.4

Deriv. weight [%/oC]

Weight [%]

1.2

0.2
0.2
0.0
0

100

200

300

400

500

0.0
600

Temperature [oC]

Figure 5.11: TGA and its derivative curve for soymeal polyol PUD films.

130

Table 5.5: Glass transition and degrading temperatures of soymeal polyol PUD films
Sample
DSC
TGA
Tg (°C)
T5% (°C)
Tdmax (°C) T98% (°C)
Soymeal
polyol
87.7
174oC
228oC
545.5
PUD films

Figure 5.12 shows the DSC thermogram of the soymeal polyol PUD films. The polymer
had a glass transition temperature of 87.7°C and is brittle at room temperature. No melting peaks
are observed, indicating an amorphous film.
2.0

Heat Flow [W/g]

1.5

1.0

0.5
Tg 87.7oC
0.0

-0.5
-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

o

Temperature [ C]

Figure 5.12: DSC scan for the soymeal polyol based PUD film
The surface and cross-sectional SEM images of the blank uncoated Form-WB substrates
and soymeal polyol PUD coatings are shown in Figure 5.13 and 5.14, respectively. The surface

131

and cross-sectional images of the PUD coatings shown from Figure 5.14 indicate that the
adhesion between the polyurethane matrix and the surface of the substrate was good as was
indicated by the cross-sectional image. The surface morphology of the coatings indicated no
presence of any pinholes.

Figure 5.13: Surface (left) and cross-sectional (right) SEM images of Form-WB uncoated
substrate

Figure 5.14: Surface (left) and cross-sectional (right) SEM images of soymeal polyol PUD
coatings

Table 5.6: Cobb values, WVTR and contact angles of soymeal polyol PUD coatings
Coating sample
Cobb values,
WVTR,
Contact angle,
2
gsm
( gm/m .day)
(o)
0.35±0.07
937.8±27.1
85.2±0.7
Form WB- Blank
Soymeal polyol4.35±0.35
314.1±12.7
33.0±1.4
PUD

132

Table 5.6 shows the Cobb values, water vapor transmission rates (WVTR) and contact
angles of the soymeal polyol PUD coatings. The uncoated substrate had a Cobb value (2 min
test) of 0.35 gsm, while the substrates coated with soymeal polyol PUD coating had a higher
Cobb value of 4.35 gsm, indicating poor resistance against water absorption by the coatings. The
contact angle analysis done using water on the PUD coated substrates to determine the
wettability of the surface of the coatings indicated that the soymeal PUD coatings had a contact
angle of 33.0o. The wetting tendency is larger when the contact angle is smaller. A non wetting
surface is usually characterized by a contact angle greater than 90o. From the results obtained, it
is further confirmed that the coatings were hydrophilic. However, the coated substrates had a
significant decrease in water vapor transmission rates compared to the uncoated substrates. The
WVTR of soymeal polyol PUD coated substrate and uncoated substrate were 314.1 gm/m2.day
and 937.8 gm/m2.day, respectively. This variation in the results between Cobb tests, contact
angle analysis and water vapor transmission rates could be better explained by understanding the
phenomena behind them. Cobb tests and contact angle analysis is more of a surface
phenomenon, whereas permeation of water vapor is a multi-step process which involves
absorbance of the permeant in the polymer, diffusion of the permeant through the polymer
matrix and ultimately desorption from the polymer matrix towards the lower concentration side.
As the permeation is a function of both the solubility coefficient (S) and diffusion coefficient
(D), a polymer can have a lower permeability if it has a low value of D or a low value of S or
both. The diffusion coefficient is affected by the properties of the polymer such as molecular
packing, amorphous content, cross linking density and amount of crystallinity. The soymeal
polyurethane dispersions have a highly crosslinked structure due to their multifunctionality,

133

which could limit the movement of the permeant through the free volume available in the
polymer. The higher the cross linking density, the lower the free volume available in the polymer
for the permeant to pass through, and perhaps this could be the reason why the coated
dispersions have barrier properties inspite of their hydrophilicity as indicated by contact angle
analysis. Polydimethylsiloxane is a class of silicon based polymers, which was observed to
display such contrasting behaviour, originally hydrophobic in nature and yet highly permeable
to water vapour [96-97].
5.5.2 Castor oil PUDs
Figure 5.15 shows the flow chart for the synthesis of PUDs from castor oil. The castor oil
based PUDs were characterized for experimental solid content by running samples using TGA
under isothermal conditions at 120oC for 45 minutes. The experimental solid content of the
castor oil PUDs as shown in Table 5.7 was 25.2%. The stability of the dispersions was
ascertained by monitoring the viscosity using a Brookfield viscometer at different RPMs under
regular time intervals. The dispersions were found to be stable with no significant changes in the
viscosity over a period of time as shown in Figure 5.16. The coat weight of the PUD coatings
was 3.27 gsm with a thickness of 0.3 mil.

134

Castor oil

IPDI

DMPA

NCO
terminated
prepolymer

Neutralization

TEA

Water

Castor oil PUDs

Figure 5.15: Flow chart for the synthesis of PUDs from castor oil

80
20 RPM
30 RPM
50 RPM
60 RPM

Viscosity (Centipoise)

75
70
65
60
55
50
45
40
0

1

2

3

4

5

Time (Days)

Figure 5.16: Viscosity of the castor oil PUDs as a function of time at different RPMs

135

Table 5.7: Properties of castor oil PUDs & coatings
Sample Experimental Viscosity, Coat
Coating
solid content, cP, @60 weight,
Thickness,
%
RPM
gsm
mil
Castor
oil
25.2
44 - 46
3.27±0.24 0.3±0.05
PUDs

The FTIR spectrum of castor oil based PU coated film is shown in Figure 5.17. The peak
at 2900 cm-1 was assigned to the C-H symmetric bending vibration of -CH3, N-H stretching
vibration at 3340 cm-1 , C=O stretch of urethanes at 1705 cm-1 and the absence of the -NCO
group at 2273 cm-1, implying that a complete reaction of -NCO of IPDI with -OH of castor oil
had occurred.

0.12
1705
0.10
1531

Absorbance

0.08
2900
0.06

3340

0.04

0.02

0.00
3500

3000

2500

2000

1500

1000

500

-1

Wave number [cm ]

Figure 5.17: FTIR spectrum of castor oil PUD coated film
Figure 5.18 shows the TGA curve and the derivative curve for the castor oil based PUD
film and the T5%, Tdmax, and T98% are listed in Table 5.8. The first stage of degradation involved

136

minor degradation at 160.7 °C and then the main degradation at 305.7 °C. The degradation of the
samples in the temperature range 150 - 300°C can be attributed to the dissociation of the
urethane bonds to form isocyanates, alcohols, primary and secondary amines, olefins and carbon
dioxide. The second stage of degradation occuring above 300°C is due to the chain scission of
the castor oil, while the last stage degradation above 500°C corresponds to the thermo-oxidative
degradation of the alkyl groups of the polyurethanes. Figure 5.19 shows the DSC thermograms
of the castor oil PUDs and the Tg of the samples is shown in Table 5.8. The Tg of the film is
around 22.8°C and no melting peak is observed, indicating an amorphous polymer.

1.2

1.0

Weight [%]

0.8
0.6
0.6
0.4
0.4
0.2

0.2

0.0
0

100

200

300

400

500

0.0
600

o

Temperature [ C]

Figure 5.18: TGA and its derivative curve for castor oil PUD film.

137

Deriv. weight [%/oC]

1.0

0.8

1.0

Heat Flow [W/g ]

0.7
0.4
Tg 22.8oC

0.1

-0.2
-0.5
-0.8
-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

Temperature [oC]

Figure 5.19: DSC scan for the castor oil PUD film
Table 5.8: Glass transition and degrading temperatures of castor oil PUD films
Sample
DSC
TGA
Tg (°C)
T5% (°C)
Tdmax (°C) T98% (°C)
Castor oil
22.8
160.7
305.7
440.9
PUD films

138

Figure 5.20: SEM photographs of uncoated (left) and coated (right) cellophane substrate
(top): SEM photographs showing the cross-sections of the uncoated (left) and coated (right)
cellophane substrates (bottom)

The surface and cross-sectional SEM images of the blank uncoated Cellophane and castor
oil PUD coated substrates are shown in Figure 5.20. The cross-sectional images of the coated
substrates indicate good adhesion between the polymer matrix and the surface of the substrate.
The surface morphology of the coatings indicated no presence of any pinholes.

139

Table 5.9: Cobb values, contact angles, WVTR and OTR results of castor oil PUD coatings
sample
Cobb values Cobb values
Contact
WVTR,
OTR,
(2 min),
(30 min),
angle,
( gm/m2.day) (cc/ m2.day)
gsm
gsm
(o)
35.44±0.88
41.16±1.62
30.16±1.38
0.10±0.001
Cellophane
1.78±0.19
18.86±1.31
93.25±2.67 1354.15±8.15
CO-PUD

140

Table 5.9 shows the Cobb values, water vapor transmission rates (WVTR),
Oxygen transmission rates (OTR) and contact angles of the castor oil PUD coatings.The
uncoated cellophane substrate had Cobb values of 35.44 gsm and 41.16 gsm for the 2
minute and 30 minute tests respectively. The castor oil PUD coated cellophane substrate
had showed significant resistance to water absorption as indicated by the Cobb values,
1.78 gsm (2 min test) and 18.86 gsm (30 min test). This increase in resistance to moisture
absorption is attributed to the non polar hydrocarbons present in the castor oil
polyurethane dispersions. These results are further confirmed by an increased contact
angle of the coated substrate (93.25o) compared to the cellophane (30.16 o). The coated
substrate had a contact angle greater than 90 o indicating the hydrophobic nature of the
coating, while the uncoated cellophane had a smaller contact angle indicating its
sensitivity to moisture. A significant resistance to water vapor transmission rates is
further observed in the case of coated substrates. The WVTR of the cellophane is so high
that the values could not be obtained as they are far beyond the limitations of the
permeability testing equipment. The castor oil PUD coated cellophane showed significant
resistance to water vapor transmission and a WVTR value of 1354.15 gm/m2.day was
obtained. Cellophane had good oxygen barrier properties as indicated by the OTR values
of 0.01 cc/m2.day. However, in contrast to WVTR, the coated cellophane substrate did
not show any significant resistance to oxygen; the values are so high they are beyond the
limitations of the oxygen permeability testing equipment and no readings could be
obtained. Water molecules are known to associate and build clusters during their
diffusion through polymer matrices [98]. The clusters of water molecules are larger in
size than the oxygen molecules and probably cannot travel through the thin gaps between

141

the polymer matrix. This offers a possible explanation for the difference observed in the
oxygen and water vapor transmission rates of the coated substrates. Cellophane is highly
sensitive to moisture and the probability of intermolecular hydrogen bonding forces being
disrupted upon exposure to moisture is very high. This could be the possible reason for
the low barrier properties of the aqueous polyurethane dispersion coatings.

5.5.3 Comparison between soymeal polyol and castor oil based PUDs
Significant differences were observed between the properties of soymeal polyol
and castor oil based polyurethane dispersions. The differences in the properties are
primarily attributed to the differences in the nature of the polyol component used in the
dispersions. Soymeal polyol had a hydroxyl value of 435.74 mgKOH/g, which resulted
in a highly crosslinked rigid polyurethane film upon reaction with the isocyanate
component. In comparison, castor oil had a lower hydroxyl value of 163 mgKOH/g and
resulted in a flexible film with fewer cross links between the polymer chains on reaction
with isocyanate. These differences could be clearly observed by comparing the thermal
properties of both the PUDs. Soymeal polyol PUDs had a higher Tg of 87.7oC compared
to the castor oil based PUDs (22.8 oC). Soymeal polyol synthesized from amino acids
exhibited hydrophilicity due to the short alkyl chain between the amide and urethane
linkages, while the castor oil composed of non-polar hydrocarbons exhibited a
hydrophobic nature. As a result, soymeal polyol PUDs exhibited lower Cobb values and
contact angles compared to the castor oil based PUDs.

142

5.6 Conclusions
In this work, aqueous polyurethane dispersions were synthesized using soymeal
polyol and castor oil as the polyol components and applied as coatings on different
substrates. A systematic investigation of the thermal properties, Cobb tests, contact angle
analysis, barrier properties against water vapor and oxygen permeation enabled the study
of the contribution of the polyol component to the properties of the PUDs. Soymeal
polyol based PUD coatings were more rigid having a higher glass transition temperatures
as a result of the higher degree of crosslinking compared to the castor oil PUDs which
were more rubbery and flexible. Castor oil based PUD coatings exhibited significant
resistance to water absorption compared to the soymeal based PUDs as indicated by the
Cobb values, contact angle and water vapor transmission rates. The differences in these
properties are attributed to the differences in the polarity of the molecular chains.
Furthermore, the barrier properties of the coatings on cellophane were influenced by the
aqueous nature of the polyurethane dispersions, which could disrupt the intermolecular
hydrogen bonding forces inherent in the substrate.

143

REFERENCES

144

REFERENCES

1. SZycher, (1999) M. Szycher’s Handbook of Polyurethanes; CRC: Boca Raton,
FL.
2. Zhang L, Jeon HK, Malsam J, Herrington R, Macosko C W (2007) Substituting
soybean oil - based polyols into polyurethane flexible foams. Polymer 48: 66566667
3. Kim BS, Kim BK (2005) Enhancement of hydrolytic stability and adhesion of
waterborne polyurethanes. J Appl Polym Sci 97:1961-1969
4. Athawale VD, Nimbalkar RV (2011) Waterborne Coatings Based on Renewable
Oil Resources: an Overview. J Am Oil.Chem Soc 88:159-185
5. Pfister DP, Xia Y, Larock RC (2011) Recent Advances in Vegetable Oil Based
Polyurethanes. ChemSusChem 4:703-717
6.

Velayutham TS, Abd Majid WH, Ahmad AB, Kang GY, Gan SN (2009)
Synthesis and characterization of polyurethane coatings derived from polyols
synthesized with glycerol. Progress in Organic Coatings 66:367-371

7.

Narayan R (2000) Reactive Extrusion Process Produces Biodegradable Films &
Injection Molded Products Based on Soy Protein-Polyester. MRS (Materials
Research Society) Bulletin, Vol. 28:10

8. Narayan R (2006) Rationale, Drivers, Standards, and Technology for Biobased
Materials in Renewable Resources and Renewable Energy, CRC Press, Ed Mauro
Graziani & Paolo Fornasiero.
9. Williams CK, Hillmyer MA (2008) Polymers from renewable resources: a
perspective for a special issue of polymer reviews. Poly Rev 48:1-10
10. Igwe IO, Ogbob O (2000) Studies on the properties of polysters and polyster
blends of selected vegetable oils. J Appl Polym Sci 75:1441-1446
11. Uyama H, Kuwabara M, Tsujimoto T, Kobayashi S (2003) Enzymatic synthesis
and curing of biodegradable epoxide - containing polysters from renewable
resources. Biomacromolecules 4:211-215
12. Oldring PKT, Turk N, (2001) Eds. Resins for Surface Coatings: Polyurethanes,
Polyamides, Phenolplasts, Aminoplasts, Maleic Resins.; Wiley: New York,Vol. 3.

145

13. Li FK, Larock RC (2003) Synthesis, structure and properties of new tung oil styrene - divinylbenzene copolymers prepared by thermal polymerization.
Biomacromolecules 4:1018-1025
14. Andjelkovic DD, Valverde M, Henna P, Li F, Larock RC(2005) Novel
thermosets prepared by cationic copolymerization of various vegetable oils synthesis and their structure - property relationships. Polymer 46:9674-9685
15. Lascala J, Wool RP (2005) Property analysis of triglyceride - based thermosets.
Polymer 46: 61-69
16. Khot SN, Lascala J, Can C, Morye SS, Williams GL, Palmese G R, Kusefoglu
SH, Wool RP (2001) Development and application of triglyceride - based
polymers and composites. J Appl Polym Sci 82:703-723
17. Petrovic ZS, Zhang W, Javni I (2005) Structure and properties of polyurethanes
prepared from triglyceride polyols by ozonolysis.Biomacromolecules 6:713-719
18. Guo A, Cho Y, Petrovic ZS (2000) Structure and properties of polyurethanes
based on halogenated and nonhalogenated soy-polyols. J Polym Sci Part A:
Polym Chem 38:4062-4069
19. Petrovic ZS, Guo A, Zhang W (2000) Structure and properties of polyurethanes
based on halogenated and nonhalogenated soy-polyols. J Polym Sci Part A:
Polym Chem 38:4062-4069
20. Lligadas G, Ronda JC, Galia M, Biermann U, Metzger JO (2006) Synthesis and
characterization of polyurethanes from epoxidized methyl oleate based polyether
polyols as renewable resources. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 634-645
21. Lligadas G, Ronda JC, Galia M, Cadiz V (2007) Poly(ether urethane) Networks
from Renewable Resources as Candidate Biomaterials: Synthesis and
Characterization. Biomacromolecules 8:686-692
22. Lligadas G, Ronda JC, Galia M, Cadiz V (2007) Polyurethane Networks from
Fatty-acid-based
Aromatic
Triols:
Synthesis
and
Characterization.
Biomacromolecules 8:1858-1864
23. Kong ZH, Narine SS (2007) Physical Properties of Polyurethane Plastic Sheets
Prepared from Polyols from Canola Oil. Biomacromolecules 8:2203-2209
24. Campanella A, Bonnaillie LM, Wool RP (2009) Polyurethane Foams from
Soyoil-based Polyols. J Appl Polym Sci 112:2567-2578

146

25. Kong XH, Yue J, Narine SS (2007) Physical Properties of Canola Oil Based
Polyurethane Networks. Biomacromolecules 8:3584-3589
26. Chian KS, Gan LH (1998) Development of a polyurethane rigid foam from palm
oil. J Appl Polym Sci 68:509-515
27. Tanaka R, Hirose S, Hatakeyama H (2008) Preparation and characterization of
polyurethane foams using a palm oil-based polyols. Bioresour Technol 99:38103816
28. Sharma V, Banait JS, Kundu PP (2009) Swelling kinetics of linseed oil-based
polymers. J Appl Polym Sci 111:1816-1827
29. De Souza VHR, Silva SA, Ramos LP, Zawadzki SF (2012) Synthesis and
Characterization of Polyols Derived from Corn Oil by Epoxidation and
Ozonolysis. J Am Oil Chem Soc 89:1723-1731
30. ASTM Standard D16-00. Technology for paint, related coatings, materials and
applications. ASTM, West Conshohocken, PA.
31. Saunders JH, Frisch KC (1962) Polyurethanes: Chemistry and technology, vol.
XVI. High polymers, Part I. New York: Wiley.
32. Xia Y, Larock RC (2011) Castor-Oil Based Waterborne Polyurethane Dispersions
Cured with an Aziridine-Based Crosslinker. Macromol Mater Eng 296:703-709
33. Madbouly SA, Xia Y, Kessler MR (2013) Rheological Behaviour of
Environmentally Friendly Castor Oil-Based Waterborne Polyurethane
Dispersions. Macromolecules 46:4606-4616
34. Lu Y, Larock RC (2010) Soybean oil - based, aqueous cationic polyurethane
dispersions: Synthesis and properties. Prog Org Coat 69:31-37
35. Lu Y, Larock RC (2008) Soybean oil - Based Waterborne Polyurethane
Dispersions: Effects of Polyol Functionality and Hard Segment Content on
Properties. Biomacromolecules 9:3332-3340
36. Lu Y, Larock RC (2007) New Hybrid Latexes from a Soybean Oil - Based
Waterborne Polyurethane and Acrylics via Emulsion Polymerization.
Biomacromolecules 8:3108-3114
37. Petrovic ZS, Guo A, Zhang W (2000) Structure and properties of polyurethanes
based on halogenated and nonhalogenated soy - polyols. J Polym Sci Part A:
Polym Chem 38:4062-4069

147

38. Lu Y, Tighzert L, Dole P, Erre D (2005) Preparation and properties of starch
thermoplastics modified with waterborne polyurethane from renewable resources.
Polymer 46:9863-9870
39. Lu Y, Tighzert L, Berzin F, Rondot S (2005) Innovative plasticized starch films
modified with waterborne polyurethane from renewable resources. Carbohydr
Polym 61:174-182
40. Harjono, Sugita P, Mas’ud ZA (2012) Synthesis and Application of Jatropha Oil
based Polyurethane as Paint Coating Material. Makara J Sci 16(2):134-140
41. Lligadas G, Ronda JC, Galia M, Cadiz V (2007) Poly(ether urethane) Networks
from Renewable Resources as Candidate Biomaterials: Synthesis and
Characterization. Biomacromolecules 8:686-692
42. Lligadas G, Ronda J C, Galia M, Cadiz V (2007) Polyurethane Networks from
Fatty Acid - Based Aromatic Triols: Synthesis and Characterization.
Biomacromolecules 8:1858-1864
43. Kong XH, Narine SS (2007) Physical Properties of Polyurethane Plastic Sheets
Produced from Polyols from Canola Oil. Biomacromolecules 8:2203-2209
44. Petrovic ZS, Guo A, Javni I, Cvetkovic I, Hong DP (2008) Polyurethane
networks from polyols obtained by hydroformylation of soybean oil. Polym Int
57:275-281
45. Roy S, Majumdar KK (2004) Preparation of organo-tin catalyst useful for
preparation of polyurethanes. Indian patent 194604.
46. Burdeniuc JJ, Kamzelski AZ (2006) Blowing catalyst compositions containing
hydroxyl and surface active groups for the production of polyurethane foams.
European patent 1702913.
47. Krajnik JM, Olesen KR, Vandezande GA (2005) Waterborne casting having
improved Chemicals resistance. US patent 6869996.
48. Hart RE (1997) Water-based, solvent free or low VOC, two-component
polyurethane coatings. US patent 5693703.
49. Zeno W. Wicks, Jr., Douglas A. Wicks, James W. Rosthauser (2002) Two
package waterborne urethane systems. Progress in Organic Coatings 44:161-183
50. Kim BK, Kim TK, Jeong HM (1994) Aqueous dispersion of polyurethane
anionomers from H12MDI/IPDI, PCL, BD and DMPA. J Appl Polym Sci
53:371-378

148

51. Chen Y, Chen YL (1992) Aqueous dispersions of polyurethane anionomers:
effects of counteraction. J Appl Polym Sci 46:435-43
52. Narayan R, Chattopadhyay DK, Sreedhar B, Raju KVSN, Mallikarjuna NN,
Aminabhavi TM (2006) Synthesis and characterization of crosslinked
polyurethane dispersions based on hydroxylated polyesters. J Appl Polym Sci
99:368-80
53. Weiss KD (1997) Paint and coatings, a mature industry in transition. Prog Polym
Sci 22:203-245
54. Noble KL (1997) Waterborne polyurethanes. Prog Org Coat 32:131-136
55. Melchiors M, Casselmann H, Kobusch C, Noble KL, Sonntag M (2000)
Designing coatings to cover high performance applications. Polym Paint Colour
J 190 (4426):24-28
56. Melchiors M, Sonntag M, Kobusch C, Jurgens E (2000) Recent developments in
aqueous two-component polyurethane (2K-PUR) coatings. Prog. Org. Coat.
40:99-109.
57. Hegedus CR, Gilinski AG, Haney RJ (1996) Film formation mechanism of two component waterborne polyurethane coatings. J Coat Technol 68(852):51-61
58. Renk CA, Schwartz AJ (1995) in: Proceedings of the Waterborne High-solids
Powder Coating Symposium, New Orleans, LA, p.266.
59. Prashant Gangwar (2013) Two component waterborne polyurethanes for
construction coatings. paintindia 118-123
60. American Chemistry Council (2012) CPI 2010 End-Use Market Survey on the
Polyurethane Industry
61. Mutlu H, Meier MAR (2010) Castor oil as a renewable resource for the chemical
industry. Eur J Lipid Sci Tech 112(1)10-30
62. Binder RG, Applewhite TH, Kohler GO, Goldblatt LA (1962) Chromatographie
analysis of seed oils. Fatty acid composition of castor oil. J Am Oil Chem Soc 39:
513-517
63. Belgacem MN, Gandini A (2008) Materials from vegetable oils: Major sources,
properties and applications. In: Monomers, Polymers and Composites from
Renewable Resources. Eds. M. N. Belgacem, A. Gandini, Elsevier, Amsterdam
(The Netherlands) pp.39-66.

149

64. Brink M, Belay G (2006) Alphabetical treatment of vegetable oils. In: Plant
Resources of Tropical Africa. 1. Cereals and Pulses. Eds. M. Brink, G. Belay,
Backhuys Publishers, Leiden (The Netherlands) p.144
65. Dwivedi MC, Sapre S (2002) Total vegetable-oil based greases prepared from
castor oil.J Syn Lubriciation 19:229-241
66. Hoffer P, Daute P, Grutzmacher R, Westfechtel A (1997). Oleochemical PolyolsA New Raw Material Source for Polyurethane Coatings and Floorings. Journal
Coatings and Technology 69 (869): 65-72
67. Petrovic ZS (2008) Polyurethanes from vegetable oils. Polym Rev 48:109-155
68. Petrovic ZS, Ionescu M, Javni I (2009) Polyglycerol based polyols and
polyurethanes and methods for producing polyols and polyurethanes. US Patent
Application 20090082483
69. Valero MF, Pulido JE, Ramirez A, Cheng Z (2008) Polyurethanes synthesized of
polyols obtained from castor oil modified by transesterification with
pentaerythritol. Quim Nova 31:2076-2082
70. Valero MF, Pulido JE, Ramirez A, Cheng Z (2009) Simultaneous interpenetrating
polymer networks with pentaerythritol-modified castor oil and polystyrene:
Structure-property relationship. J Am Oil Chem Soc 86:383-392
71. Valero MF, Pulido JE, Hernandez JC, Posada JA, Ramirez A, Cheng Z (2009)
Preparation and properties of polyurethanes base don chemically modified with
yucca Storch glycoside. J Elastomers Plast 41:223-244
72. Petrovic ZS, Cvetkovic I, Hong DP, Wan X, Zhang W, Abraham T, Malsam J
(2008) Polyester polyols and polyurethanes from ricinoleic acid. J Appl Polym
Sci 108:1184-1190
73. Karak N, Rana S, Cho JW (2009) Synthesis and characterization of castor-oil
modified hyperbranched polyurethanes. J Appl Polym Sci 112:736-743
74. Moeini HR (2007) Preparation and properties of novel green poly(ether-ester
urethane)s insulating coatings based on polyols derived from glycolyzed PET,
castor oil, and adipic acid and blocked isocyanate. J Appl Polym Sci 106:18531859
75. Yeganeh H, Mehdizadeh MR (2004) Synthesis and properties of isocyanate
curable millable polyurethane elastomers based on castor oil as a renewable
resource polyol. Eur Polym J 40:1233-1238

150

76. Mendes RK, Claro-Neto, Cavalheiro ETG (2002) Evaluation of a new rigid
carbon-castor oil polyurethane composite as an electrode material. Talanta
57:909-917
77. Srivastava A, Singh P (2002) Gel point prediction of metal-filled castor oil-based
polyurethanes system. Polym Adv Technol 13:1055-1066
78. Yeganeh H, Hojati-Talemi P (2007) Preparation and properties of novel
biodegradable polyurethane networks based on castor oil and poly(ethylene
glycol). Polym Degrad Stab 92:480-489
79. Sperling LH, Manson JA, Yenwo GM, Devia-Manjarres N, Pulido J, Conde A
(1977) Novel plastics and elastomers from simulataneous interpenetrating
networks from castor oil based IPNs – a review of an international program.
Polym Sci Technol 10:113-140
80. Nayak PL (2000) Natural oil-based polymers: Opportunities and challenges. J
Macromol Sci Rev Macromol Chem Phys. 40:1-21
81. Yin Y,Yao S, Zhau X (2003) Synthesis and dynamic mechanical behavior of
crosslinked copolymers and IPNs from vegetable oils. J Appl Polym Sci 88:18401842
82. Guner FS, Yagci Y, Erciyes AT (2006) Polymers from triglyceride oils. Prog
Polym Sci 31:633-670
83. Devia-Manjarres N, Conde A, Yenwo GM, Pulido J, Manson JA, Sperling LH
(1977) Castor oil based interpenetrating polymer Networks, II. Synthesis and
properties of emulsion polymerized products. Polym Eng Sci 17:294-299
84. Zhang L, Ding H (1997) Study on the properties, morphology, and appliations of
castor oil polyurethane – poly(methyl methacrylate) IPNs. J Appl Polym Sci
64:1393-1401
85. Sanmathi CS, Prasannakumar S, Sherigara BS (2004) Interpenetrating polymer
networks based on polyol modified castor oil polyurethane and poly(2ethoxyethyl methacrylate) synthesis, chemical, mechanical, thermal properties,
and morphology. J Appl Polym Sci 94:1029-1034
86. Cunha FOV, Melo DHR, Veronese VB, Forte MMC (2004) Study of castor oil
polyurethane-poly(methyl methacrylate) semi-interpenetrating polymer network
(SIPN) reaction parameters using a 23 factorial experimental design. Mater Res
7:539-543
87. Prashantha K, Pai KVK, Sherigara BS, Prasannakumar S (2001) Interpenetrating
polymer networks based on polyol modified castor oil polyurethane and poly(2-

151

hydroxy-ethylmethacrylate): Synthesis, chemical, mechanical and thermal
properties. Bull Mater Sci 24:535-538
88. Campbell MF, Kraut CW, Yackel WC, Yang HS (1985). "Soy Protein
Concentrates". in "New Protein Foods", A. M. Altschul and H. L. Wilke, Editors.
Vol. 5, p. 301. Academic Press, Inc. Orlando, Florida.
89. Veldman A, Veen WAG, Barug D, van Paridon PA (1993) Effect of αgalactosides and α-galactosidase in feed on ileal piglet digestive physiology. J
Animal Physiol Anim Nutr 69:57-65
90. Karr-Lilienthal LK, Kadzere CT, Grieshop CM, Fahey Jr. GC (2005) Chemical
and nutritional properties of soybean carbohydrates as related to nonruminants. A
review Livest Prod Sci 97:1-12
91. Choct M, Li YD, McLeish J, Peisker M (2010) Soy Oligosaccharides and Soluble
Non-starch Polysaccharides: A Review of Digestion, Nutritive and Anti-nutritive
Effects in Pigs and Poultry. Asian-Aust J Anim Sci 23(10):1386-1398
92. Eldrige AC, Black LT, Wolf WJ (1979) Carbohydrate Composition of Soybean
Flours, Protein Concentrates, and Isolates. J Agric Food Chem 27(4):799-802
93. Javni I, Petrvic ZS, Guo A, Fuller R (2000) Thermal stability of polyurethanes
based on vegetable oils. J Appl Polym Sci 77:1723-1734
94. Hablot E, Zheng D, Bouquey M, Averous L (2008) Polyurethanes Based on
Castor Oil: Kinetics, Chemical, Mechanical and Thermal Properties. Macromol.
Mater. Eng. 293:922-929
95. Gaboriaud F, Vantelon JP (1982) Mechanism of thermal degradation of
polyurethane based on MDI and propoxylated trimethylol propane. J Polym Sci
Polym Chem Ed 20:2063-2071
96. Andriot M, Chao S H, Colas A (2009) Silicones in Industrial Applications:
Organo-Functional Silanes, In Silicon-Based Inorganic Polymers, De Jaeger, R.&
Gleria, M., Eds., Nova, 142-146
97. Finzel WA, Vincent HL (1996) Silicones in Coatings, In:Federation Series on
Coatings, Federation of Societies for Coatings Technologies, Blue Bell, PA, 1820
98. George SC, Thomas S (2001) Transport Phenomena Through Polymeric Systems.
Prog Polym Sci 26:985-1017

152

Chapter - 6 Biodegradability studies

6.1 Introduction
Plastics are long chain polymeric molecules and are used extensively in
packaging of products like food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, detergents and chemicals.
Plastics have good physical, chemical, mechanical and thermal properties such as light
weight, high strength, good stability, durability, as well as high resistance to water and
most water-borne microorganisms. Therefore they have replaced most of the paper and
cellulose based products in packaging applications. A consequence of this phenomenal
use of plastic materials is their increasing presence in municipal solid waste (MSW)
throw away products. In the USA, plastics waste accounted for approximately 31.75
million tons (12.7% of the total MSW) in 2011[1]. The most common methods available
for treating waste disposal are landfills, recycling, incineration and composting.
However, most plastic materials are resistant to microbial attack and tend to accumulate
in the environment. Furthermore, they may represent an undesired pollutant in many
ecosystems like soil, freshwater and marine habitats. However due to current limitations
with landfills, new environmental regulations, discussions about renewable versus fossil
resources have led to an increasing research in synthesis of biodegradable materials.
Biodegradable polymers can be composted as a waste disposable option which may be a
viable solution for some plastic materials, especially those materials that are litter-prone
and not easily collected nor easily recycled such as those used in agriculture. This
composting option has led to a need for standard evaluating procedures for these
biodegradable polymers in solid waste treatment and in aquatic environments. Various

153

standards have been developed by ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials)
and ISO (International Standards Organization) for assessment of the biodegradability of
polymers under various conditions such as composting, anaerobic degradation and waste
water treatment.

In this project, the biodegradability of polyvinyl alcohol. soymeal

polyol and castor oil based polyurethane films were assessed according to various ISO
and ASTM standards and the results are analyzed and reported.

6.2 Literature review
Biodegradation is the natural and complex process of decomposition of materials
facilitated by microorganisms, and each standards organization gives its own definition
for a biodegradable polymer. According to ASTM, a biodegradable plastic is "a plastic
that degrades because of the action of naturally occurring microorganisms such as
bacteria, fungi and algae"[2]. Standard organizations such as ASTM and ISO have
published their own series of standards to assess the biodegradability of plastics in
different environments such as composting (ASTM D5338, ISO 14885), anaerobic
digestion (ASTM D5511, D5526 and ISO 15985) and wastewater treatment (ASTM
D5210, ISO 14853) [3].
6.2.1 Various factors affecting the biodegradability of polymers
Biodegradation is predominantly a series of biological activities, however, in
nature biotic and abiotic factors act synergistically to decompose organic matter. Several
studies show that plastics are degraded by several interacting mechanisms like:
- photodegradation by natural daylight
- chemical degradation like oxidation by chemical additives

154

- thermal degradation by heat
- mechanical degradation by mechanical stress
- biodegradation by microorganisms (e.g. bacteria, fungi)
Plastics exposed to outdoor conditions (weather, ageing) undergo transformations in their
structure due to abiotic factors (mechanical, light, thermal and chemical) and this affects
the ability of the polymeric materials to be biodegraded [4-8]. The abiotic parameters in
most of the cases are useful either as a synergistic factor or to initiate the biodegradation
process. Figure

6.1 shows the various factors which affect the rate and extent of

biodegradation.

155

Factors affecting Biodegradation

Polymer
Characteristics

Exposure
conditions

Flexibility
Crystallinity
Abiotic

Biotic

Morphology
Functional groups

Temperature

Enzymes

Moisture

Hydrophobicity

pH

Biosurfactants

Crosslinking
Molecular Weight
Copolymers

UV radiation

Blend
Tacticity
Additives

Figure 6.1: Various factors that affect biodegradation

156

Biodegradation is influenced by different factors like the type of microorganisms,
exposure conditions and the characteristics of the polymer. Microorganisms like bacteria
and fungi are involved in the biodegradation of both natural and synthetic plastics [9, 10].
Different soil conditions have their own optimal microbial growth conditions, thus
varying the extent of biodegradability of the polymers. For example, a compost pile has
higher moisture content and temperature conditions suitable for a variety of microbes to
live and reproduce. Figure 6.2 shows the general mechanism of biodegradation of plastics
by the enzymatic action of microorganisms. Bacteria can be broadly classified into two
categories, aerobic and anaerobic. In aerobic biodegradation, the microbes utilize oxygen
in the air and consume carbon from the polymer as a food source, producing carbon
dioxide and water. This enzymatic biological oxidation reaction predominates in the
presence of a high oxygen concentration (not less than 6% as described in ASTM D5338)
and any depletion of oxygen supply can affect the metabolism rate of aerobic
microorganisms, thus affecting the biodegradation rate. In anaerobic biodegradation,
anaerobic bacteria consume carbon from the polymer source, producing methane and
carbon dioxide. Each type of microorganisms consumes carbon at different rates and
therefore the biodegradation of plastics under aerobic conditions may not be the same as
in anaerobic conditions [11]. In both these cases, it is important to note that a small
portion of the biodegradable polymer will be incorporated into microbial biomass, humus
and other natural products. The growth of many fungi happens under aerobic conditions,
and can cause small-scale swelling and bursting as the fungi penetrate the surface of the
polymer solids [12]. The biodegradation reaction involves the production of enzymes that
break down complex polymers to yield smaller molecules of short chains, e.g., oligomers,

157

dimers and monomers that can be easily assimilated by the microorganisms. Enzymes are
essentially biological catalysts and can affect the rate of biodegradation reactions. There
are two categories of enzymatic reactions:

enzymatic oxidation (by aerobic

microorganisms) and enzymatic hydrolysis (by either aerobic or anaerobic microbes)[13].

Figure 6.2: General mechanism for the biodegradation of plastics by
microorganisms
6.2.2 Influence of environmental conditions on biodegradability
Biodegradation of plastics also depends on environmental factors like moisture,
temperature, oxygen and pH of the surroundings. Water or moisture can affect the
biodegradation of polymers in two ways. First, microorganisms need water to grow and
reproduce. Therefore, under conditions where moisture content is suitable there should be
more microbial activity and the rate of biodegradation would be faster. Second,
hydrolysis plays an important role in the biodegradation of some polymers in moisture
rich environments, resulting in the cleavage of polymers and increasing the available sites
for microorganisms to attack. It can be therefore expected that the polymers will degrade
faster in moisture rich environments than in dry conditions [14]. Hydrolysis reactions can

158

be catalyzed under both acidic and base conditions. The pH of the environment affects
bacterial growth. Most bacteria grow best in pH from 6-8. However, there are also many
acid tolerant bacteria as well as alkaline tolerant bacterial strains. Furthermore, the pH of
the environment also significantly affects the biodegradation of plastics[15]. The
temperature in many natural environments changes drastically over the seasons. Most of
the well characterized bacteria live best at temperatures from 25o-40oC (mesophiles)
although many bacteria thrive at high temperatures above 45oC (thermopiles) and others
grow best at 0o-15oC (pyschrophiles). In general, the rate of biodegradation increases
with increase in the temperature as long as it is not beyond the optimum temperature for
growth of the microorganisms [16]. The rate and the extent of the hydrolysis of many
polymers are also affected by changes in the temperature.

6.2.3 Affects of polymers properties on their biodegradability
The characteristics of the polymer such as its mobility, tacticity, crystallinity,
molecular weight, type of functional groups and additives all play an important role in its
biodegradability[17]. The higher the flexibility of a polymer, the higher is the probability
of more active sites available for assimilation by the enzymatic action of the
microorganisms and higher is the biodegradation rate[18]. Amorphous regions of the
polymers are more susceptible to biodegradation than crystalline regions due to the easy
accessibility to microorganisms. Polymers with different degrees of crystallinity tend to
have different rates of biodegradation [19,20]. Generally, an increase in the molecular
weight of a polymer results in a decrease in the degradability of the polymer by
microorganisms. Thus monomers, dimers and oligomers are more easily degraded than

159

the high molecular weight polymer. Furthermore, high molecular weight results in a
decrease in the solubility, increase in the Tg making the polymer less flexible, and
increases the number of bonds that must be cleaved, making them unfavorable for
microbial attack [13, 15]. The type of comonomers introduced into a polymer structure
also affects its biodegradability. The crystallinity of the polymer could be decreased by
the presence of comonomer thus increasing its biodegradability. Similarly the presence of
comonomers with hydrolyzable groups can increase biodegradability. On the contrary,
comonomers containing aromatic structures which impart rigidity to the polymer can
reduce its biodegradability. Therefore the biodegradability of the polymer depends on the
type of comonomer introduced and its effect on the properties of the polymer [22,23].
The size and shape of the polymer also influences the rate of biodegradation. The smaller
the size of the polymer, higher is the surface area that is in contact with the
microorganisms and thus degrades faster [24].

6.2.4 Standard test methods
Several standard tests have been developed by standards organizations around the
world to determine the biodegradability of packaging materials in different environments.
Most commonly, these standards describe terminology and definitions, testing guidelines,
procedures, conditions, significance, limits and intrepretation of the results.

In this

review, only the standards prescribed by ASTM and ISO dealing with the aerobic
biodegradation of polymers in composting and aqueous medium are included and
discussed.

160

ASTM D6400 [2] addresses the compostability of plastic materials, standard
specifications, terminologies as well as guidelines for using test method ASTM D5338.
The test method ASTM D5338 [25] is used to ascertain the biodegradability of plastics
exposed to a compost mixture under controlled laboratory conditions. The test prescribes
a minimum of 12 test vessels: 3 blanks, 3 negative controls, 3 positive controls and 3 for
the test material. Carbon dioxide free humidified air is supplied for a test period of no
less than 45 or more than 180 days at a constant temperature of 58oC or a desired
temperature depending on the properties of the test material. The carbon dioxide gas
produced is trapped by using a sodium hydroxide (NaOH) or barium hydroxide
(Ba(OH)2) solution and its concentration is determined by titration using hydrochloric
acid. Carbon dioxide production can also be alternatively determined by using a carbon
dioxide analyzer (either infrared or chromatographic). For a test material to be certified as
biodegradable, a 60% or higher mineralization value must be attained for a material
containing a single polymer (homopolymer or random copolymer) and 90% for a material
containing a block copolymer, segmented copolymer, blend or low molecular weight
additives. Further ecotoxicity tests are carried out in accordance with ASTM D6400.

The ISO 14855-1[24] biodegradation test is similar to the test method in ASTM
D5338, with a few differences. The ISO test method does not require negative control
vessels, prescribes using inert materials such as sea sand or vermiculite with the compost
for providing better aeration and moisture retention, and the mineralization of the test
material should be 90% of the value obtained for a reference material to prove its
biodegradability. ISO 14855-2[26] is another standard test method which measures

161

mineralization of a polymer by a gravimetric method. It is similar to 14855-1 except for
the method of carbon dioxide measurement and the amount of compost and sample used.

For aqueous biodegradation standard tests, a liquid environment is used to assess
the biodegradability of materials. The general principle of the tests is the same except for
aerobic fermentation of polymers in an aquatic environment, regardless of the other
parameters used to estimate the biodegradability. Generally the source of microorganisms
is activated sludge from a well operated municipal sewage treatment plant. The material
to be tested is the sole organic carbon source in the medium. Through the action of
microorganisms and in the presence of oxygen, this carbon is converted into biomass,
carbon dioxide, residual polymer or oligomers and inorganic dissolved carbon.

6.3 Biodegradability testing of polyvinyl alcohol in aqueous medium
6.3.1 Introduction
Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) is a water soluble synthetic polymer that is widely
used in adhesive, paper-coating, textile-industries and for packing pharmaceutical
products [27,28]. Various grades of this polymer are generally synthesized by the
saponification reaction of polyvinyl acetate using sodium hydroxide as the catalyst. The
percentage of the residual acetate groups present in the product varies depending on the
extent of the saponification reaction and significantly influences the solubility of the
PVA. With increased acetate groups, the polymer becomes less soluble in water and more
soluble in aromatic hydrocarbons and aliphatic esters [29]. Due to its increased
applicability, PVA is very likely to enter the environment without entering any integrated

162

system of waste treatment. Therefore, ascertaining the biodegradability of PVA is of
utmost importance. PVA is difficult to be degraded in natural environments, however
microorganisms and enzymes that degrade PVA have been identified and reported [3032]. However, the properties of these materials very much depend upon the degree of
polymerization, distribution of hydroxyl groups, stereoregularity and crystallinity of
PVA. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to assess the relationship between
biodegradability and structure of the polymer.
In this work, the degradation behavior of two types of PVA with different degrees
of hydrolysis were considered and investigated for their biodegradability under different
environmental conditions. Biodegradability tests were conducted in aqueous medium
according to ISO standard 14852 [33] using both acclimatized and non-acclimatized
inoculum and the results were analyzed and reported.

6.3.2 Experimental methods
6.3.2.1 Materials
Commercial PVA samples PVA-88 (Partially hydrolysed, 86.7 – 88.7 mol.-%
hydrolysis) and PVA-99 (Fully hydrolysed, 99.0 – 99.8 mol.-% hydrolysis) were
purchased from Kuraray Specialities Europe GmbH. The organic content of the PVA
samples, PVA-88 & PVA-99 were 55.4% & 54.5% as determined from the chemical
formula (Figure 6.3.1).Cellulose and Starch (Food starch – unmodified) were utilized as
positive controls in respirometric biodegradation tests and were purchased from Fluka,
and Cargill Gel respectively. Antifoam 204 used as an anti-foaming agent during the tests
was purchased from Sigma – Aldrich.

163

H

H

C

C

H

OH

n

Figure 6.3.1: Chemical structure of poly(vinyl alcohol)

6.3.2.2 Microbial source
The microbial inoculum was a sample of activated sludge collected from a welloperated waste water treatment plant based handling predominantly domestic sewage at
East Lansing, MI, USA.
A PVA acclimated culture was obtained by adopting a common enrichment
procedure. The activated sludge from the waste water plant was added in 1% by weight
ratio to 100 ml of the mineral medium having the following composition: 2.2 g K2HPO4,
0.8 g KH2PO4, 0.7 g MgSO4.7H2O, 1.0 g NH4NO3, 0.1 g NaCl, 0.01 g FeSO4.7H2O, 0.05
g yeast extract (Bacto Yeast Extract, Difco), 1000 ml distilled water, with a pH 7.1± 0.1.
The liquid culture was then added with PVA at a concentration of 0.1 – 10 g/L and then
incubated at 25oC under reciprocal shaking (120 rpm) for three weeks. The liquid cultures
were further enriched by filtering 5 ml sample on 1.2 μm cellulose acetate filter and
transferring the filtrate into the fresh mineral medium containing increasing PVA
concentrations from 0.1 – 10 g/L. The microbial culture resulting from the repeated
sequential transfers was used as the acclimated inoculum in the biodegradation tests.

164

6.3.2.3 Biodegradation tests in aqueous medium
A respirometric mineralization test system based on International Standard ISO
14852 was built. This system was designed to yield the percentage of carbon dioxide
from the organic carbon content of the sample in aqueous medium. An optimized test
medium which was highly buffered and contained more inorganic nutrients was prepared
as mentioned in the ISO standard and given below.
a. Solution A - dissolve 37.5 g of anhydrous potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KH2PO4),
87.3 g of disodium hydrogen phosphate dihydrate (Na2HPO4. 2H2O), 2 g of ammonium
chloride (NH4Cl) in water and diluted to 1 L.
b. Solution B - dissolve 22.5 g of magnesium sulfate heptahydrate (MgSO4.7H2O) in
water and diluted to 1 L.
c. Solution C - dissolve 36.4 g of calcium chloride dihydrate (CaCl2. 2H2O) in water and
diluted to 1 L.
d. Solution D - dissolve 0.25 g of iron (111) chloride hexahydrate (FeCl3.6H2O) in water
and diluted to 1 L.
The test medium was then prepared by using the above stock solutions. For
preparing a liter of test medium, to about 800 ml of water was added 100 ml of solution
A, 1 ml of solution B, 1 ml of solution C, 1 ml of solution D and made up to 1000 ml
with water, the pH of which was measured to be 7.0±0.2. The PVA samples taken for
respirometric tests were such that the concentrations of organic carbon content in the test
flasks was 2000 mg/liter of test medium. The PVA samples were dissolved in test flasks
by adding 500 ml of water and refluxed at 95oC for 3 hours under constant stirring using
a magnetic stirrer. Cellulose, starch and glucose were used as positive reference

165

materials. PVA acclimatized microbial inoculum was introduced to the test flasks at a
concentration of 5% (V/V) in the test medium.

The current test system was comprised of two test flasks for each PVA sample,
two flasks for the blank and two flasks for each of the positive reference materials placed
in a

dark temperature controlled system – an environmentally controlled room

manufactured by Lab-Line Instruments Inc. (Melrose Park, IL) maintained at 25oC with
an accuracy of ± 1oC. The test flasks were agitated throughout the test with a magnetic
stirrer. The test flasks were connected to a CO2 free air production system as shown in
Figure 6.3.2. Frothing problems encountered were dealt with by adding 1 ml of 2%
Antifoam 204 (Sigma Aldrich) solution in all the flasks including the blanks. The air was
divided and passed through flow meters for each bioreactor at a flow rate of 60 mL/min.

Figure 6.3.2: Schematic of the experimental setup
A solution with 250 ml 0.25N NaOH was used for trapping the CO2 from the test
flasks and the amount of CO2 content in solution was calculated through acid-base

166

titration. The NaOH solution was changed every time that CO2 was calculated. Ten
milliliter aliquots were removed from the 250 ml trapping NaOH solution and titrated
with 0.186N standardized hydrochloric acid (HCl) solution to obtain the value of CO2 in
the solution. The CO2 content in the 10 mL solution was correlated with the 250 mL
solution and the actual CO2 amount was determined. The CO2 trapping reaction was done
in a two step reaction as shown below.

NaOH + CO2

NaHCO3 (1)

NaHCO3 + NaOH

Na2CO3 (2)

Similarly, during titration CO2 was removed through the following reactions:
Na2CO3 + HCl

NaHCO3 + NaCl (3)

NaHCO3 + HCl

NaCl + H2O + CO2 (4)

Initially, a few drops of phenolphthalein indicator were added to the 10 mL NaOH
aliquot and further titrated until it turned from pink to colorless. At this point, the Na2CO3
was converted into NaHCO3 and NaCl. Further, a few drops of Bromocresol green methyl red indicator were added and titrated till the solution turned from blue to yellow.
The NaHCO3 reacted with HCl to form NaCl, H2O and CO2. Hence the amount of HCl
consumed could be used to calculate the CO2 concentration in the solution according to
the following formula:

gCO2

= V × C × 44
1000

167

where gCO2 is the amount of evolved carbon dioxide in grams; V is the volume of HCl
consumed; C is the concentration of HCl solution. The percentage biodegradation Dt was
further calculated by the following equation:

Dt 

 CO2  T   CO2 B  100
ThCO 2

where
(CO2)T is the amount of carbon dioxide evolved in test flask FT between the start
of the test and time t, expressed in milligrams;
(CO2)B is the amount of carbon dioxide evolved in the blank flask FR between the
start of the test and time t, expressed in milligrams;
ThCO2

is the theoretical amount of carbon dioxide evolved by the test material,
expressed in milligrams.

The theoretical amount of CO2 evolved by the test material ThCO2 is given by the
following equation:
ThCO 2  m  Xc 

44
12

where m is the mass of test material introduced into the test system;
Xc is the carbon content of the test material, determined from the chemical formula or
calculated from an elemental analysis and expressed as a mass fraction; 44 and 12 are the
molecular mass of carbon dioxide and the atomic mass of carbon, respectively.

168

6.3.3 Biodegradation kinetics
The percent biodegradation values at different times that were obtained from the
biodegradation tests were further evaluated to better understand the biodegradation
kinetics [34]. Figure 6.3.3 shows a typical biodegradation curve of CO2 evolved evolved
as a function of time.

Plateau phase

CO2 (%)
y

a

Activation phase

a-y

Lag phase

x

c
Time

Figure 6.3.3: A typical biodegradation curve showing CO2 evolved as a function of
time

There are typically three different phases involved in the biodegradation reaction,
lag phase, activation phase and a plateau phase. In Figure 6.3.3, y denotes CO2 evolved
(percentage), x is time (days), a is the upper asymptote (percentage), and c is the lag time.
Considering a biodegradation reaction involving one reactant, such as

A

Products

The rate law corresponding to a first order reaction can be written as
r = - K CA = K Cp (a)
169

where r is the rate of reaction, K is the rate constant, CA, Cp are the concentration of
reactants and products, respectively; For a first order reaction, the rate law can be written
in differential form as

(b)
Integrating both the sides of the equation,

(c)
(d)

(e)

(f)
for the following boundary conditions: y = a[1- e-k(x - c)] for x > c; y = 0 for x ≤ c
This mathematical model is used for understanding the kinetics of the biodegradation
reaction. Lag time and asymptote were introduced into the model as to ascertain the
biodegradation only during active phase. The parameters of the model, rate constant, lag
time and asymptote were obtained by fitting the experimental percentage versus time data
using nonlinear regression analysis. The Correlation Co-efficient R2 was also determined
to estimate the variability derived by the model.

170

6.3.4 Results and discussion
6.3.4.1 Biodegradation of PVA in non-acclimatized medium
The two different PVA samples, PVA-88 and PVA-99 were investigated for their
degradation behaviour under aqueous conditions in aerobic conditions. During aerobic
degradation, the carbon in the polymers is converted by the action of microorganisms into
carbon dioxide, water, biomass and other residues.The rate and extent of aerobic
biodegradability was assessed by determining the amount of carbon dioxide evolved
using a cumulative respirometric method. Figure 6.3.4 shows the biodegradation curves
of PVA samples done in the presence of non-acclimatized municipal waste water.

100
90

% Biodegradation

80
Cellulose
PVA-88
PVA-99

70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Time (Days)

Figure 6.3.4: Biodegradation curves of PVA and cellulose in the presence of
municipal sewage sludge.
Cellulose used as a positive control during the test, degraded by 85.8±0.6% and
reached a plateau stage within 19 days. PVA-88, a partially hydrolyzed PVA degraded by
30.6±0.8%, while PVA-99 did not show any signs of significant degradation (4.1±0.2%).
The differences in the degree of biodegradation between the two different grades of PVA
171

could be explained due to the differences in their degree of hydrolysis. The solubility of
PVA in water depends on its degree of polymerization and degree of hydrolysis [32]. As
a general rule, a decrease in the degree of polymerization and hydrolysis is accompanied
by a rise in the rate of dissolution in water, as is evident from the different dissolving
temperatures. PVA-88, a partially hydrolysed polymer (88%) was readily soluble in
water at room temperature, while PVA-99, a fully hydrolyzed polymer was soluble in
water at a temperature of 90 – 95oC. Moreover partially hydrolyzed PVA tends to be
semi-crystalline while fully hydrolyzed PVA tends to be highly crystalline. Amorphous
regions of the polymers are easily accessible to the microorganisms compared to the
crystalline regions [19,20].
Table 6.3.1: Kinetic parameters of PVA degradation in acclimatized and nonacclimatized inoculum
Sample

Biodegradation,
%

Rate constant
(day-1)

Correlation
Coefficient, R2

Lag time
(days)

Cellulosea

85.8±0.6

0.51±0.00

0.94±0.0

2.0±0.0

PVA-88a

30.6±0.8

0.49±0.02

0.95±0.0

4.0±0.0

PVA-99a

4.1±0.2

-

-

-

Starchb

85.6±0.0

0.10±0.00

0.99±0.0

0.0±0.0

PVA-88b

89.0±3.9

0.03±0.00

0.96±0.05

12.0±8.5

PVA-99b

88.9±3.1

0.12±0.00

0.98±0.01

12.0±0.0

a
b

samples in non-acclimatized inoculum
samples in acclimatized inoculum

The parameters of the biodegradation kinetics, rate constants, lag time and
correlation co-efficients are shown in Table 6.3.1. Figure 6.3.5 shows the graph of ln(1y/a) vs time for cellulose, a straight line fit indicating a first order reaction and the rate
constant k obtained from the slope of the curve. It is apparent from the data in Figure
6.3.5 that the biodegradation rate with of cellulose follows a first order reaction with a
172

rate constant of 0.51 day-1. Cellulose, a natural polymer, is easily assimilated by the
microorganisms, while it takes a much longer time for the microbes to get adjusted to the
presence of a synthetic polymer. This can be observed from the increased lag time (4
days) in the case of PVA-88, though a rate constant of 0.49 day-1 comparable to cellulose
was obtained initially.
Cellulose
0.0
-0.5

ln(1 - y/a)

-1.0
-1.5
-2.0
-2.5
-3.0
0

1

2

3

4

5

Time (Days)

Figure 6.3.5: Graph of ln(1-y/a) versus time for cellulose in municipal sewage water

The results of the PVA biodegradation tests conducted in the presence of a nonacclimatized inoculum, however, cannot be considered conclusive due to the short
incubation time. As reported in the literature, it has been established that a more active
and specialized microbial population that assimilates PVA could be established in a
longer period of time [35].

173

6.3.4.2 Biodegradation of PVA in the presence of acclimatized inoculum
The municipal sewage sludge enriched in liquid cultures where PVA was the only
organic carbon and energy source was used as an acclimatized inoculum and the results
of the test are shown in Figure 6. It is observed that in the presence of acclimatized
inoculum, the extents of biodegradation for PVA-88 and PVA-99 were 89.0±3.9% and
88.9±3.1, respectively. The extent of the biodegradation was comparable to that of starch
(85.6 %) after an incubation period of 70 days. These values are much larger compared to
those recorded in the presence of non-acclimatized municipal sewage sludge. This
observed difference could be explained due to the increase in the activation of microbial
strains responsible for PVA degradation due to selective pressure exerted by constant
exposure in the case of acclimatized inoculum. It has been reported that certain
microorganisms identified as Pseudomonas species, Alcaligenes, and Bacillus were
particularly active in the PVA-contaminated environments [36].

100
90

% Biodegradation

80
70
60
50
PVA-88
PVA-99
Starch
Cellulose

40
30
20
10
0
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Time (Days)

Figure 6.3.6: Biodegradation of PVA, cellulose and starch in the presence of
acclimatized inoculum.
The rate constants of starch (0.10 day-1) and PVA-99 (0.12 day-1) are listed in
Table 6.3.1 and are very similar, though comparatively a much larger lag time is

174

observed in the PVA samples (12 days). The degree of hydrolysis of the PVA samples
did not seem to have much of an effect on the extent of biodegradation, whereas the
degradation rate showed a moderate rate dependence on the degree on hydrolysis. PVA99 degraded at a faster rate compared to PVA-88 as can be seen from Figure 6.3.6. The
graphs of ln(1-y/a) versus time for both PVA-88 and PVA-99 are shown in Figures 6.3.7
and 6.3.8, respectively. Both the curves show a straight line fit, indicating a first order
reaction. The rate constant of PVA-99 (0.12 day-1) showed a four fold increase over the
rate constant of PVA-88(0.03 day-1) . It can also be observed that the correlation
coefficients R2 derived in all the cases, from the model is around 0.95 indicating a
significant confident of the model, considering the heterogeneity of biodegradation
process and diversity of microorganisms associated with it.
Acclimatization of the microbial population to PVA led to a substantial decrease
in cellulose assimilation by the same microorganisms as revealed by the very low
biodegradation of the cellulose sample (1.7%). However higher degradation values are
obtained for starch. In this case, cellulolytic, starch and PVA – degrading activity were
conflicting. Therefore particular attention needs to be further devoted to understand the
degradation biochemistry and the complexity of mechanisms associated with such
biodegradation reactions.

175

PVA-88
0.0
-0.1
-0.2

ln(1 - y /a )

-0.3
-0.4
-0.5
-0.6
-0.7
-0.8
-0.9
-1.0
0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Time (Days)

Figure 6.3.7: Biodegradation kinetics of PVA-88 in the presence of acclimatized
inoculum
PVA-99
0.0
-0.2
-0.4

ln(1 - y /a )

-0.6
-0.8
-1.0
-1.2
-1.4
-1.6
-1.8
0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

Time (Days)

Figure 6.3.8: Biodegradation kinetics of PVA-99 in the presence of acclimatized
inoculum

176

6.3.5 Conclusions
This study was carried to asses the aerobic biodegradability of two different PVA
samples under different composting conditions, using acclimatized and non-acclimatized
inoculum.

The percent biodegradation values were determined using a cumulative

respirometric method as specified by standard test method ISO 14852. The experimental
data were further fitted into a mathematical model to derive the biodegradation kinetics.
Significant levels of PVA biodegradation were reached only in the presence of
acclimated PVA degrading microorganisms, most likely because of the selective pressure
exerted by the large amounts of PVA in such inoculum. The degree of hydrolysis did not
seem to have much of an effect on the extent of biodegradation, whereas the degradation
rate showed a moderate dependence on the degree of hydrolysis as evident from the faster
degradation rate of PVA-99 compared to PVA-88. The rate constants and the order of the
reactions were obtained by fitting the biodegradation data to a mathematical model. The
reactions are first order indicating that the rate of the biodegradation reaction depends
linearly only on the reactant concentrations

6.4 Biodegradability testing of castor oil PU films and soymeal polyol using
Microbial Oxidation Degradation Analyzer (MODA)
6.4.1 Introduction
Polyurethanes (PUs) are an important class of synthetic polymers used in a variety
of applications including packaging, paints, coatings, padding and thermal insulation
materials. Typically, PUs are prepared by the reaction between polyols and isocyanates,
which are generally derived from petro-fossil sources. In the last few years, new PUs are
being synthesized using polyols derived from renewable, bio-based sources such as

177

vegetable oils. It was interesting to determine whether these poly(ester-urethane)s derived
from renewable resources were biodegradable. The biodegradability of polyurethanes by
microorganisms depends on many properties of the polymer such as molecular
orientation, crystallinity, cross-linking and chemical groups present in the main polymer
chains. The hydrolysable ester bond in the main chain is considered to be more
suspectible to microbial attack by the action of enzymes. The biodegradation of
poly(ester-urethane)s is comparatively higher than the poly(ether-urethane)s [37-39].
Further investigations conducted indicated that the PU composed of aliphatic
diisocyanates demonstrated a greater rate of biodegradation than PUs composed of
aromatic diisocyanates. The rate of biodegradation increased in accordance with the
diisocyanates used: MDI < H12MDI < HDI [40].
In this study, the biodegradation of castor oil based PU films and soymeal polyols were
conducted according to the standard test method as prescribed by ISO 14855-2. The
extent and rates of biodegradation were determined, analyzed and reported.

6.4.2 Experimental methods
6.4.2.1 Materials
Castor oil polyurethane (PU) films having a thickness of 1.68±0.08 mil were
provided by a Delhi based PU making company. The PU films were cut into flakes of
average dimensions 0.3 x 0.3 cm2 and utilized for the test. Cellulose powder (Sigma
Aldrich) was used as the positive reference. The organic carbon content of the Indian
castor oil PU films was 66.34% which was determined by elemental analysis (Midwest
Microlab, LLC, Indianapolis) and cellulose was 44.44% determined from the chemical
formula.

178

The soymeal polyol was synthesized in our lab according to the procedures
mentioned in the previous chapters. Soymeal was initially treated with 60% alcohol to
remove the soluble carbohydrates, followed by acid hydrolysis using HCl, amination with
ethylenediamine and finally reacted with ethylene carbonate to obtain soymeal polyol as
shown in chapter 5. The organic carbon content of soymeal was 41.7% as determined by
elemental analysis.
6.4.2.2 Gravimetric measurement respirometric system
An ISO 14855-2 method was used as a reference for the biodegradability test. ISO
148552-2 recomends using two blanks, two positive reference materials and two samples
to be analyzed for the biodegradation measurement, the compost and sample in a ratio of
6:1 and the commonly used quantity is 60 g of compost to 10 g of sample.

Figure 6.4.1: Schematic representation of the MODA system
A gravimetric measurement respirometric system according to some of the
specifications has been built by Hissan Trading Co. Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan), and is
commercialized under the name of microbial oxidative degradation analyzer (MODA). A
MODA system (Figure 6.4.1) was provided by Saida UMS Inc. (Tokyo, Japan) for the

179

test presented in this work. The MODA system consists of four bioreactors, one for
blank, one for positive control (Cellulose) and two for test samples. In the MODA
system, pressurized air is passed through the column containing soda lime (obtained from
Airgas) with CO2 absorption indicator to make it CO2 free. Later, the air is bubbled
through a flask containing deionized water to maintain constant humidity in the compost
mixture and in the reaction column. The reaction column consists of a column covered
with a heating jacket and a thermosensor to maintain the temperature at 58oC. Air is
passed through each bioreactor and later through an ammonia eliminator, moisture
remover, and finally to a CO2 trap column.
6.4.2.3 Preparation of compost
The compost used for the test was made of cow manure, wood shavings and waste
feed and was obtained from the Michigan State University composting facility (East
Lansing, MI). The compost which was matured for 3 months was screened using a 5 mm
mesh and had a relative moisture content and pH of about 65±3% and 8.5±0.5,
respectively. Then, 270 grams of the compost by dry weight was added with sufficient
moisture to make it to a final moisture content of 80%, left aerated at room temperature
for one day and placed in a thermostat at 58 oC overnight. The compost was then mixed
well with 270 grams of vermiculite (manufactured by Therm-O-Rock, New Eagle, PA)
and a sufficient quantity of water added to bring the moisture content to 65%. This
compost-vermiculite mixture was then kept for activation for 7 days at 58oC by mixing
twice a day and adding water as necessary to adjust the moisture content.
The activated compost was then introduced into the bioreactors of the MODA
such that each column consisted of mature compost (60 g dry weight), vermiculite (60 g

180

dry weight) and 10 grams by dry weight of the test sample. Compost with no sample was
used as the blank to determine the respiration activity of the compost. The bioreactor
columns were covered with a thermal jacket at a temperature of 58oC and CO2 free air
was passed through the columns at 25 mL/min flow rate for 30-60 days. In addition to
the carbon dioxide, ammonia and water were also generated from the reaction columns,
which were eliminated by passing the output of the reactors through 2N sulfuric acid
(H2SO4) in the ammonia absorption flask, and the neutralization of ammonia by H2SO4
was monitored by methyl red indicator. Later the air was passed through moisture
removal columns 1 and 2 as shown in Figure 6.4.1. Silica gel was used for the moisture
removal (column 1); when the silica gel was saturated it changed color from dark blue to
colorless. Moisture removal column 2 consisted of 20% silica gel and 80% calcium
chloride (93% granular, anhydrous obtained from Sigma-Aldrich, St.Louis, MO) which
completely removed moisture from the air. Column 3 was a carbon dioxide absorption
column and contained soda lime (medical grade, Airgas). This chemical reaction
generated water, hence the column 4 containing calcium chloride collected the remaining
water from the reaction. The produced CO2 amounts were measured once a day by
measuring the weights of an absorption column for carbon dioxide and an absorption
column for water. The degree of biodegradation was calculated from the produced CO2
amount which was subtracted from the respiration CO2 amount determined from the
blank and divided by theoretically produced CO2 amount of the added sample. The
compost mixture was taken out once a week for manual turning to ensure proper mixing
of the compost and the sample, and also to improve aeration and maintain accurate
moisture in the mixture.

181

6.4.3 Results and discussion
6.4.3.1 Biodegradation of castor oil based PU films
The cumulative carbon dioxide evolved in the inoculum, castor oil PU films and
cellulose columns is shown in Figure 6.4.2. It is obvious that the reference material
produced more carbon dioxide than the blank, followed by the CO2 production of the
castor oil PU film. There was a general increase in CO2 production throughout the test for
the blank, indicating the good activity of the compost. Figure 6.4.3 shows the percentage
biodegradation of castor oil PU films and cellulose as a function of time. ISO 14855-2
recommends that this test is valid only if cellulose or positive reference control reaches
70% mineralization value before 45 days. These tests fulfilled this condition as was
indicated by the results. The cellulose percent biodegradation after 45 days was 69.4%,
which was very close to the validity conditions as per ISO 14855-2. However ISO 148552 also recommends using two positive controls in the test and the test is only valid if the
difference between the biodegradation in the two controls is less than 20%. In our case,
we had only one positive control due to the limitation of the MODA equipment.

182

30

Evolved CO2 [grams]

25

20

15

10
Cellulose
Castor oil PU film
Blank

5

0
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Incubation Time (Days)

Figure 6.4.2: Evolved carbon dioxide as a function of time for cellulose, blank and
castor oil PU film
The biodegradation of castor oil PU films as shown in Figure 6.4.3 reached a
plateau phase after 33 days. The percent biodegradation of PU films at this point was
10.2%, while the extent of the biodegradation of cellulose was 62.7%. As shown in Table
6.4.1, the total carbon dioxide evolved from the castor oil PU films was 2.05 g, while the
theoretical carbon dioxide expected was 20.16 g and the % mineralization attained was
10.2%. On the other hand, the reference material cellulose reached 79.9% towards the
end of the test at 59 days. ASTM D6400, which addresses the compostability of plastic
materials, standard specifications and terminologies for biodegradable materials states
that for a single polymer (homopolymers or random copolymers) to be certified as
biodegradable, 60% of the organic carbon must be converted to carbon dioxide by the
end of the test period. Therefore, following the specifications in ASTM D6400 it can be

183

concluded that the castor oil PU films have not attained satisfactory levels of
biodegradation.
90.00
80.00

Biodegradation [%]

70.00
60.00
50.00
40.00
Cellulose
Castor oil PU film

30.00
20.00
10.00
0.00
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Incubation Time [Days]

Figure 6.4.3: Percent biodegradation as a function of time for cellulose and castor
oil PU film

Table 6.4.1: Percent biodegradation of castor oil PU film as a function of time
Sample

Amount
taken,
grams

Total
carbon
content
(%)

Expected
Evolved
CO2, grams CO2,grams

Biodegradation,
(%)

Cellulose

10.01

44.44

16.31

13.03

79.9

Castor oil
PU film

8.29

66.34

20.16

2.05

10.2

6.4.3.2 Biodegradation of soymeal polyol
Figure 6.4.4 shows the cumulative carbon dioxide evolved in the blank, soymeal
polyols and cellulose columns. The carbon dioxide produced by the cellulose is more

184

than the CO2 production of the blank, as was expected. This can be explained due to the
action of the microorganisms on the degradable carbon of the reference material. The
CO2 production from the soymeal polyols is higher than the blank; however the rate of
CO2 evolution decreased after the 9th day. There was a steady increase in CO2
production throughout the test period for the blank, indicating good activity of the
microorganisms in the compost. The percent biodegradation of soymeal polyol and
cellulose with time is shown in Figure 6.4.5. The percent biodegradation of cellulose
attained was 60.2% towards the end of 23 days and can be expected to reach above 70%
mineralization after 45 days, thus it can be fairly assumed to fulfill the validity conditions
as mentioned in ISO 14855-2 standard.
Soymeal polyols exhibited higher biodegradation rates than cellulose during the
initial phases. This could be due to the presence of limited amounts of insoluble
carbohydrates present in the soymeal polyol, serving as readily available nutrients to the
microorganisms present in the compost. Moreover, soymeal polyol is a liquid and has a
much larger surface contact area than the powdery cellulose. The biodegradation curve of
the soymeal polyols reached its maximum value of 22.5±2.1% after 9 days. The plot of
soymeal polyol showed a declining trend after 9 days, which does not necessarily mean a
decline in percent biodegradation. This negative trend is observed due to subtracting the
cumulative CO2 evolved from the soymeal from the blank. The soymeal polyol has
amide-urethane linkages in its structure that are not easily assimilated by the
microorganisms, thereby reducing their activity.

185

20
18
Blank
Cellulose
Soymeal polyol - 1
Soymeal Polyol - 2

Evolved CO2 (grams)

16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
0

5

10

15

20

25

Time (Days)

Figure 6.4.4: Cumulative CO2 evolved over time in soymeal polyols, cellulose and
blank
70

Biodegradation (%)

60
Cellulose
Soymeal polyol

50
40
30
20
10
0
0

5

10

15

20

25

Time (Days)

Figure 6.4.5: Percentage biodegradation as a function of time for cellulose and
soymeal polyol

186

6.4.3.3 Biodegradation kinetic studies
The percent biodegradation values versus time data obtained from the tests was
further evaluated for understanding the biodegradation kinetics by an exponential product
formation model [34] given below.

y = a[1- e-k(x - c)] for x > c; y = 0 for x ≤ c
where y is CO2 evolved (percentage), x is time (days), a is the upper asymptote
(percentage), k is the rate constant (per day) and c is the lag time. Lag time and asymptote
were introduced into the model so as to ascertain the biodegradation only during active
biodegradation. The parameters of the model, rate constant, lag time and asymptote are
obtained by fitting the experimental percentage versus time data using nonlinear
regression analysis. The correlation co-efficient R2 is also determined from the model to
estimate the variability accounted for the model. The results of the biodegradation kinetic
studies of castor oil PU and soymeal polyol are shown in Table 6.4.2.
Table 6.4.2: Biodegradation kinetic parameters of castor oil PU and soymeal polyol
Sample

Biodegradation,
%

Cellulose
Castor oil PU
Soymeal polyol

79.9±0.0
10.2±0.0
22.5±2.1

Rate
constant
(day-1)
0.06±0.02
0.09±0.02
0.50±0.11

Correlation
Coefficient, R2

Lag time
(days)

0.98±0.04
0.98±0.00
0.97±0.01

0.0±0.0
0.0±0.0
0.0±0.0

Figures 6.4.6, 6.4.7 and 6.4.8 show the graphs of ln(1-y/a) versus time for
cellulose, castor oil PU films and soymeal polyol, respectively. The observed linear
correlation as indicated by the straight line fit in these log plots confirmed the first order
rate of these reactions. The rate constants (day-1) were obtained from the slope of ln(1y/a) vs time curves. Similarly the biodegradation reaction was first order with respect to
the concentrations of the test samples. The rate constants of cellulose, castor oil and

187

soymeal polyol are 0.06, 0.09, 0.50 day-1 respectively. The rate constants of soymeal
polyol are comparatively higher than cellulose, due to the initial higher biodegradation
rates observed in the case of soymeal polyol before it reached the plateau phase within a
short time, as was shown in Figure 6.4.5. The correlation coefficients obtained indicated
a good fit of the kinetic model to the experimental biodegradation data. Figure 6.4.9
shows the comparison between the experimental data and the calculated data from the
kinetic model. The data generated by the kinetic model (shown in dotted lines) closely
matches with the experimental data (shown in solid lines).
Cellulose
0.0
-0.5

ln(1 - y /a )

-1.0
-1.5
-2.0
-2.5
-3.0
0

10

20

30

40

Time (Days)

Figure 6.4.6: Graph of ln(1-y/a) versus time for cellulose

188

50

Castor oil PU film
0.0
-1.0

ln(1 - y/a)

-2.0
-3.0
-4.0
-5.0
-6.0
0

10

20

30

40

50

Time (Days)

Figure 6.4.7: Graph of ln(1-y/a) versus time for castor oil PU films.
Soymeal Polyol
0.0

ln(1 - y/a)

-1.0

-2.0

-3.0

-4.0

-5.0
0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Time (Days)

Figure 6.4.8: Graph of ln(1-y/a) versus time obtained for soymeal polyol

189

100
90
Cellulose

Biodegradation [%]

80
70
60
50
Experimental.
Estimated.

40
30

Soymeal polyol

20

Castor oil PU film

10
0
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Time [Days]

Figure 6.4.9: Comparison between experimental and estimated data generated by
the kinetic model
6.4.4 Conclusions
This study was carried out in order to assess the biodegradability of castor oil PU
films and soymeal polyols under controlled laboratory conditions according to ISO
14855-2 using MODA. From the results obtained, it can be concluded that both castor oil
PU films and soymeal polyols have not reached satisfactory biodegradation levels as
indicated by the conditions of the ISO 14855-2 standard. After 59 days, the
biodegradation of castor oil PU films was 10.2%. The rate of biodegradation for the
reference material reached 69.6% towards the end of the 45 day test period, thereby
fulfilling the validity conditions according to ISO 14855-2. Soymeal polyol reached its
maximum biodegradability level of 22.5±2.1%. The reaction kinetics indicates that the
biodegradation reactions are first order with respect to the concentration of the test
materials.

190

REFERENCES

191

REFERENCES

1. EPA (2011) Municipal Solid Waste Generation, Recycling, and Disposal in the
United States: Facts and Figures for 2011. Environmental Protection Agency,
Washington DC
2. ASTM (2004) D6400-04 Standard Specification for Compostable Plastics. West
Conshohocken, PA
3. Kale G, Kijchavengkul T, Auras R, Rubino M, Selke SE, Singh SP (2007) An
overview of compostability of bioplastic packaging materials. Macromol Biosci
7:255-277
4. Kister G, Cassanas G, Bergounhon M, Hoarau D, Vert M (2000) Structural
characterization and hydrolytic degradation of solid copolymers of D, L-lactideco-е-caprolactone by Raman spectroscopy. Polymer 41:925-932
5. Proikakis CS, Mamouzelous NJ, Tarantili PA, Andreapoulos AG (2006) Swelling
and hydrolytic degradation of poly(D, L-lactic acid) in aqueous solution. Polym
Degrad Stab, 91(3):614-619
6. Helbling C, Abanilla M, Lee L, Karbhari VM, (2006) Issues of variability and
durability under synergistic exposure conditions related to advanced polymer
composites in civil infrastructure, Compos. Part A-Appl Sci, 37(8):1102-1110
7. Ipekogulu B, Boke H, Cizer O (2007) Assessment of material use in relation to
climate in historical buildings, Build Environ. 42:970-978
8. Jakubowicz I, Yarahmadi N, Petersen H, (2006) Evaluation of the rate of abiotic
degradation of biodegradable polyethylene in various environments. Polym
Degrad Stab, 91(6):1556-1562
9. Gu JD, Ford TE, Mitton DB, Mitchell R, (2000) Microbial degradation and
deterioration of polymeric materials In: Revie W, editor. The Uhlig Corrosion
Handbook, 2nd Edition, New York: Wiley b, 439-460
10. Gu JD (2003) Microbiological deterioration and degradation of synthetic
polymeric materials: recent research advances. Int Biodeterior Biodegrad,52: 6991
11. Gartiser S, Wallrahenstein M, Stiene G (1998) Assessment of several test
methods for the determination of the anaerobic biodegradability of polymers. J
Environ Polym Degrad. 1998, 6, 159-173.

192

12. Griffin GJL (1980) Synthetic polymers and the living environment. Pure Appl
Chem 52:399-407
13. Chandra T, Rustgi R (1998) Biodegradable Polymers. Prog Polym Sci 23:12731335
14. Kai-Lai GH, Pometto AL III, Hinz PN (1999) Effects of temperature and relative
humidity on polylactide acid plastic degradation. J Environ Polym Degrad 7(2):
83-92
15. Rafael A, Bruce H, Selke S (2004) An overview of Polylactides as Packaging
Materials. Macromol Biosci 4:835-864
16. Kai-Lai GH Pometto III AL, Gadea-Rivas A, Briceno JA, Rojas A (1999)
Degradation of PolylacticAcid (PLA) Plastic in Costa Rican Soil and Iowa State
University Compost Rows. J Environ Polym Degrad 7:173-177
17. Artham T, Doble M (2008) Biodegradation of Aliphatic and Aromatic
Polycarbonates. Macromol Biosci 8(1):14-24
18. Stevens ES (2003) What Makes Green Plastics Green? Biocycle 24:24-27
19. Wendy A, Allan A, Brian T (1998) A review of biodegradable polymers:, uses,
current developments in the synthesis and characterization of biodegradable
polysters, blends of biodegradable polymers and recent advances in
biodegradation studies. Polym Int 47: 89-144
20. Zhang X, Wyss UP, Pichora D, Goosen MFA (1994) An investigation of
poly(lactic acid) degradation. J Bioactive Compat Polym 9:80-100
21. Gopferich A (1997) Mechanisms of Polymer Degradation and Elimination", in:
Handbook of Biodegradable Polymers, Domb AJ, Kost A, Wiseman DM, Eds,
Hardwood Academic, Montreux, 451-471
22. Chellini E, Corti A (2003) A simple Method Suitable to Test the Ultimate
Biodegradability of Environmentally Degradable Polymers. Macromol Symp 197:
381-395
23. Corti A, Muniyasamy S, Vitali M, Imam SH, Chellini E (2010) Oxidation and
Biodegradation of Polyethylene Films Containing Pro-oxidant Additives:
Synergistic Effects of Sunlight Exposure, Thermal Aging and Fungal
Biodegradation. Polym Degrad Stab 95:1106-1114

193

24. ISO (1999) 14855-1: Determination of The Ultimate Aerobic Biodegradability
And Disintegration of Plastic Materials Under Controlled Composting Conditions
- Method By Analysis of Evolved Carbon Dioxide. ISO, Geneva, Switzerland
25. ASTM (1998) D5338-98e1 Standard Test Method for Determining Aerobic
Biodegradation of Plastic Materials Under Controlled Composting Conditions.
ASTM, West Conshohocken, PA.
26. ISO (2006) 14855-1 Determination of the Ultimate Aerobic Biodegradability of
Plastic Materials under Controlled Composting Conditions - Method by Analysis
of Evolved Carbon Dioxide. Part 2: Gravimetric Measurement of Carbon Dioxide
Evolved in a Laboratory Scale Test. ISO, Geneva, Switzerland.
27. Jegal J, Lee KH (1996) Pervaporation separation of water - ethanol mixtures
through PVA-sodium alginate blend membranes. J Appl Polym Sci 61(2):389-392
28. Suzuki F, Nakane K, Piao JS (1996) Formation of a compatible composite of
silica poly(vinyl alcohol) through the sol-gel process and a calcinated product of
the composite. J Mater Sci 31(5):1335-1340
29. Betty LLO, Amanda IMG, Ligia SG (1999) Biodegradability of poly(vinyl
alcohol). Polym Eng Sci 39(8):1346-1352
30. Corti A, Solaro R, Chiellini E (2002) Biodegradation of poly(vinyl alcohol) in
selected mixed microbial culture and relevant fulture filtrate. Polym Degrad Stab
75:447-458
31. Kim BC, Sohn CK, Lim SK, Lee JW, Park W (2003) Degradation of polyvinyl
alcohol by Sphingomonas sp. SA3 and its symbiote. J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol
30:70-74
32. Finch CA (1992) Polyvinyl Alcohol - Developments, John Wiley and Sons,
Chichester, New York, Brisbane, Toronto, Singapore, pp. 269-312.
33. ISO (2005) 14852 Determination of the Ultimate Aerobic Biodegradability of
Plastic Materials In An Aqueous Medium - Method By Analysis of Evolved
Carbon Dioxide. ISO, Geneva, Switzerland.
34. Larson RJ, Payne AG (1981)Fate of the benzene ring of linear alkibenzene
sulfonate in natural waters. Appl Environ Microbial. 41:621-627
35. Chiellini E, Corti A, Solaro R (1999) Biodegradation of poly(vinyl alcohol) based
blown films under different environmental conditions. Polym Degrad Stab
64:305-312

194

36. Chiellini E, Corti A, Solaro R (2003) Biodegradation of poly (vinyl alcohol)
based materials. Prog Polym Sci 28:963-1014
37. Howard GT (2002) Biodegradation of polyurethane: a review. Int Biodeterior
Biodegrad 49:245-252
38. Shogren RL, Petrovic Z, Liu Z, Erhan SZ (2004) Biodegradation Behavior of
Some Vegetable Oil-Based Polymers. J Polym Environ 12(3):173-178
39. Cangemi J, Santos AM, Dos C, Neto S, Chierice GO (2008) Biodegradation of
polyurethane derived from castor oil., Polimeros 18(3):201-206
40. Kim YD, Kim SC (1998) Effect of chemical structure on the biodegradation of
polyurethanes under composting conditions. Polym Degrad Stabil 62(2): 343-352

195

Chapter 7 Summary and recommendations for future work

7.1 Summary
This dissertation work was divided into five parts: (a). synthesis of polyurethanes
from soymeal by a non - isocyanate route, (b). rigid polyurethane foams based on
soymeal polyols, (c). spectroscopic method for hydroxyl value determination, (d).
evaluation of PU coatings based on soymeal polyol and castor oil, (e) biodegradability
studies.

7.1.1 Synthesis of polyurethanes from soymeal by a non - isocyanate route


Successfully synthesized bio-based poly(amide-urethane-ester)s from soymeal
without employing the toxic isocyanates



Higher molecular weights could not be obtained due to the limitations of the
polycondensation reactions



The obtained polyurethanes are amorphous and thermally stable upto 270 oC



The intermediate hydroxy-terminated urethane monomers can be potentially
used as polyols for rigid PU foam formulations

7.1.2 Rigid polyurethane foams based on soymeal polyols


Foams with 25% and 50% soymeal polyols exhibited properties comparable to
the reference model pour-in-place foams



Soymeal polyols exhibited self catalytic properties, due to the presence of
secondary amines

196



Partially biobased polyurethane, therefore has a smaller carbon footprint than
traditional rigid foams



High dimensional stability and chemical resistance derived from the amide
linkages



Compatibility with other polyols, blowing agents and other foam additives



High functionality polyols suitable for high crosslink rigid foams



Low flammability (charring upon burning) in synergy with flame retardant
additives



Potential applications in Foam-In-Place packaging applications

7.1.3 Spectoscopic method for hydroxyl value determination


An excellent linear correlation (R2 = 0.9783) was observed between the
hydroxyl values and the FTIR peak areas at 1251 cm-1



Wide range of OHVs (20 - 1800 mg KOH/g) using polyols having different
structures were used



This method is simple, faster, accurate and reproducible than conventional
titration methods



Requires small samples, and does not use toxic or hazardous reagents



Not suspectible to error due to the presence of water, acid or base
contaminants



This method can be used for routine analysis as well as quality control

7.1.4 Evaluation of PU coatings based on soymeal polyol and castor oil


Soymeal polyol PU coatings exhibited hydrophilic nature

197



Higher OH values (435.7 mg KOH/g) of soymeal polyols resulted in high
degree of crosslinking upon reaction with isocyanates; rigid films with higher
Tg (87.7 oC)



Castor oil PU coatings exhibited hydrophobic nature



Low OH values (163 mg KOH/g) of castor oil resulted in less number of
cross links between the polymer chains; flexible films with lower Tg (22.8
o

C)*



Castor oil PU coatings significantly increased the moisture barrier properties
of cellophane



A decline in the oxygen barrier properties of cellophane, due to disruption of
intermolecular hydrogen bonding forces upon exposure to aqueous coatings

7.1.5 Biodegradability studies


Conducted biodegradability studies and determined the reaction kinetics



Two different grades of poly(vinyl) alcohol, PVA-88 and PVA-99 were
tested for their biodegradability in aqueous medium in accordance with ISO
14852 standard



PVA degraded in the presence of acclimatized inoculum and the percent
biodegradation of PVA-88 and PVA-99 are 89.0±3.9% and 88.9±3.1%
respectively



The degree of hydrolysis of the PVA samples did not have an effect on the
extent of biodegradation, whereas the rate of degradation showed a moderate
dependence on the degree of hydrolysis, as was evident from the rate
constants.

198



Castor oil PU films and soymeal polyol were tested for their biodegradability
using MODA in accordance with ISO 14855-2 standard.



Both castor oil PU films and soymeal polyol had not reached satisfactory
biodegradation levels.



The biodegradation reactions conducted under standard laboratory conditions
were first order reactions and depended linearly only on the reactant
concentrations.

7.2 Recommendations for future work
7.2.1 Synthesis of soymeal polyols suitable for flexible polyurethane foams
The hydroxyl values of the polyols play an important role in determining
the final properties of the polyurethane foams. The molecular structure of the
hydrolyzed soymeal prior to reaction with cyclic carbonates can be modified by
reacting with high molecular weight amines such as polyetheramines, to obtain
low hydroxyl value polyols suitable for flexible foams. The polyols obtained can
be further evaluated in flexible foam formulations and tested for its properties.
7.2.2 Evaluation of soymeal polyols for adhesive formulations
Polyurethanes are widely used in the packaging industry as adhesives. The
soymeal polyol can be further evaluated in adhesive formulations and tested for
its performance properties.
7.2.3 Shelf life studies for packaging applications
Further, work is needed to be done for understanding and determining if
the properties of these soymeal based flexible foams and adhesives can be

199

utilized for real life packaging applications. By designing an actual package and
running shelf life studies on the relevant products can be helpful in understanding
and estimating the performance of these materials for real life packaging
applications.

200