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Low emission additives for moulded flexible foams

von Torsten Panitzsch, Stephan H. Wendel, Juan J. Burdeniuc, Renée J. Keller, Boxun Leng

The polyurethane industry continually strives to achieve improvements in productivity and quality through the development of cost-effective solutions. For more than a decade Air Products and Chemicals has been working on solutions to the growing concerns associated with emissions from polyurethane foams and reducing their environmental impact, though the development of next generation catalysts and surfactants.

Although technologies have evolved to produce high quality products using additives that create low or zero emissions in a number of standard products, several challenges remain. To be non-emissive, catalysts must be retained in the polyurethane polymer, and this could result in the premature immobilisation of additives leading to a reduction in their efficacy. The mechanical properties of the cured foam may also be affected due to the retention of these catalysts in the cured foam, this is more pronounced in those based upon toluene diisocyanate (TDI). Air Products has developed new additive technologies that can overcome challenges associated with the use of non-emissive catalysts and surfactants and in particular in achieving flexible foam stability under accelerated ageing conditions.