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The effect of nano- and microfillers on thermal properties of Polyurethane foam

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Abstract

Polyurethane is one of the polymers used in recent years for the production of thermal insulators. The aim of the present study was to optimize the heat transfer of polyurethane foam using clay nanoparticles and microparticles from polypropylene waste using central composite design of the response surface methodology with the help of Design-Expert V.11 software. For this purpose, the effect of three independent variables of thickness (0.5–1.5 cm), amount of clay nanoparticles (0–2%), and amount of polypropylene wastage microparticles (0–2%) was investigated. A 2-factor model (2FI) was presented for correlation between independent variables for maximum reduction in heat transfer under optimal conditions. Thermal insulation properties were determined using a heat flow meter according to standard method American Society for Testing and Materials C518-17. Morphological properties of the produced composites were determined using SEM image analysis and MATLAB software. The results showed that the composites with the thickness of 1 cm, containing 2% nanoclay and 1% polypropylene, and composites with the thickness of 1.25 cm, containing 1.5% nanoclay and 1.5% polypropylene with 0.045 thermal conductivity have the best performance in terms of thermal insulation and have a 22–26% better performance than pure polyurethane foam. With the increase in percentage of polypropylene and nanoclay, the thermal conductivity decreased. The results of the study showed that fillers could be used to enhance the thermal insulation properties.

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Acknowledgement

This work was financially supported by the Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences (Grant No. 97000583).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Occupational Health, Faculty of Health, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    F. Valipour

  2. Environmental and Occupational Hazards Control Research Center, School of Public Health and Safety, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    S. F. Dehghan

  3. Health Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    R. Hajizadeh

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  1. F. Valipour
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  2. S. F. Dehghan
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  3. R. Hajizadeh
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Correspondence to R. Hajizadeh.

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The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

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Ethical approval for this study was obtained from the ethical committee of Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences (IR.BMSU.REC.1398.084).

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Editorial responsibility: Samareh Mirkia.

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Valipour, F., Dehghan, S.F. & Hajizadeh, R. The effect of nano- and microfillers on thermal properties of Polyurethane foam. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 19, 541–552 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-021-03150-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-021-03150-3

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