The objective of this research is to develop soy-based polyurethane (PU) foam product reinforced with carbon nanotubes. The shortage of petroleum and the increasing concern on environmental issues have resulted in an interest in using renewable substances as building blocks for polymer applications. Multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWNT) was used in this study to reinforce the soy-based polyuretha...

Dinitrotoluene (DNT) is generally produced as a mixture called technical-grade DNT (Tg-DNT), which contains approximately 76.5% 2,4-DNT and 18.8% 2,6-DNT (with the remainder consisting of other isomers and minor contaminants such as TNT and mononitrotoluenes). It is primarily used as a chemical intermediate for the production of toluene diisocyanate. DNT is also used in the production of 2,4,6-...

BACKGROUND Exposure to airborne wheat allergen is a well-known cause of bakers' allergy and asthma. Airborne wheat allergen can be measured by enzyme immunoassays (EIAs) in extracts of inhalable dust samples, but only limited knowledge is available on the size distribution of wheat allergen-carrying particles. Recently, a new sampling medium, porous polyurethane foam, has been introduced for th...

Rigid polyurethane foams were synthesized using a renewable polyol from the simple physical mixture of castor oil and crude glycerol. The effect of the catalyst (DBTDL) content and blowing agents in the foams' properties were evaluated. The use of physical blowing agents (cyclopentane and n-pentane) allowed foams with smaller cells to be obtained in comparison with the foams produced with a che...

Propagation of waves in elastic porous media, e.g. polymeric foams, is described by Biot-Allard’s theory [1]. Two classes of characteristic parameters are needed to describe the porous media in this theory. First, non-acoustic parameters: porosity φ, thermal characteristic length Λ′, viscous characteristic length Λ, flow resistivity σ, and tortuosity α∞ which are used in Johnson-Champoux-Allard...