Abstract

Each year, more than two million tons of polyurethane is produced in the EU by reacting isocyanates with polyols made from fossil fuel. In addition, there are appreciable quantities of petroleum based functional additives applied in the industry nowadays for both polyols and polyurethane materials. It is therefore of key importance to develop sustainable economically viable polyols with enhanced functionalities, and thereby reducing the need for polyols and additives made from non-renewable fossil fuel. By basing polyurethanes on biomaterials, the carbon footprint is reduced, and using biomass waste/byproducts will further improve the environmental profile. Many studies show that materials from renewable can almost fully substitute their petrochemical analogs. Also polyurethane industry shows increasing interest in polyols derived from renewable resources. Relatively new materials from renewable resources that can be incorporated into polyurethane technology are glycerol and its polymeric form. Incorporation of these compounds is related to the production of biofuels, based on fatty acid methyl esters. Glycerol is a by-product in biodiesel production, 100 kg of glycerol is obtained for each tone of fuel. According to European Biodiesel Board, consumption of biodiesel in EU will exceeds yearly 15 Mt, what gives 1.5 Mt of waste glycerol to utilize which can be polymerized and successively used in PU. This work, based on the literature and personal research, presents the status of knowledge about application in the synthesis of polyurethanes of renewable raw materials and waste materials, mainly derived from natural oils, waste glycerol from biodiesel production and biomass.

Authors (5)