Fabrication and Morphological Characterization of Polyurethane Foam Reinforced with TiO2 Nanoparticles

Polyurethane foams with various isocyanate/polyol ratios, reinforced with various amounts of nanosized TiO2, were prepared and their morphological properties were investigated. The nanoparticles were dispersed into the polyol component by stirring and then heating during ultrasonication to avoid particle agglomeration. Both scanning electron and transmission optical microscopes were used to evaluate the role of the nanosized TiO2 on the porous structure of the polyurethane foams. Cell size distributions were obtained by measuring the average cell diameters of the cells in the micrographs. To have a better assessment of nanoparticle effects on the foam morphology sample densities were measured using Archimedes law. For better understanding of microstructure evolution the heat release rate during the foaming process was characterized. The results showed that the values of cell size, cell density, apparent density and heat release rate depended on the ratio of isocyanate/polyol as well as TiO2 content.