Improvement of the polyurethane foam's physical properties with the incorporation of sugarcane bagasse fiber

Abstract

In the following investigation, polyurethane compounds, and sugarcane bagasse fibers (SCBF) were developed and analyzed to determine their mechanical and physical properties. SCBF was incorporated in different concentrations (2, 4, 6 and 8%) in polyurethane foam. The morphological characteristics were evaluated by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), the foams were subjected to compres-sion tests to study their deformation behavior, their water absorption capacity, and their thermal behavior to transfer and store heat through diffusivity were studied. thermal. A good integration of SCBF in the polyurethane foams was ob-served, lightening the compounds, and increasing the pore size. The absorption capacity is also increased until reaching a retention of almost 4 times its weight for polyurethane foams with 4% SCBF. A decrease in the deformation caused by compressive forces is observed with increasing SCBF content. On the other hand, the SCBF content has a great influence on the thermal diffusivity of the compounds, decreasing until reaching a value of 1.54x10-8 mm2/s in materials with 4% SCBF.