"Tying up loose ends" – silicone surfactants as stabilizing agents for flexible polyurethane foam

Abstract

This paper is a tribute to the work of Dr. Michael J. Owen and colleagues in revealing the mechanism of the silicone surfactant-driven stabilization of flexible polyurethane foam. This work, performed at Midland Silicones (acquired by Dow Corning Corporation in 1967), was the inspiration for a body of experimental and theoretical research performed by the present authors in the mid-1990's. For flexible polyurethane foam, the surfactant is necessary to stabilize the liquid foamy mass before it hardens into an elastomeric sponge. Owen and coworkers demonstrated that in order to stabilize the foam the surfactant must (1) significantly lower the equilibrium surface tension of the liquid, (2) exhibit a dynamic surface tension within a narrow range of values, and (3) have an appreciable but low surface viscosity. The recent work of the authors has both validated these observations and extended their scope. They have modeled the stabilization process and have found that stability is the result of a delicate interplay of surface viscosity and elasticity which are functions of both structure and excess surface concentration of the surfactant. This modeling work was validated experimentally by investigating the drainage of model polyurethane thin liquid films ("soap films") containing silicone surfactants. The seminal nature of the work done by Owen and coworkers was reinforced by the authors' discovery that many of the original conclusions were validated by the recent work.