Catalyst compositions for improving polyurethane foam performance

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10023683-B2
Application number	US-45117606-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 12, 2006
Priority date	Jun 12, 2006
Publication date	Jul 17, 2018
Grant date	Jul 17, 2018

Abstract

The present invention provides a reactive catalyst composition for making a water blown flexible polyurethane foam. The catalyst composition comprises one or more tertiary amine catalysts in combination with (1) 2-methyl-1,3-propanediol or (2) a blend of 2-methyl-1,3-propanediol and a C7+ alkanol. The use of such catalyst composition improves the physical properties of the polyurethane foam.

First claim

We claim:

1. A method for making a flexible polyurethane foam which comprises contacting a polyisocyanate, with a formulation consisting essentially of:

Formulation
pbw

Polyol
 20-100

Silicone Surfactant
0.3-3  

water
1-6

Catalyst Composition
0.2-2  

and at least one polymer polyol; at least one diluent selected from the group consisting of dipropylene glycol, ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol; and at least one cross-linker selected from the group consisting of diethanolamine, diisopropanolamine, triethanolamine and tripropanolamine; wherein the catalyst composition is 2-methyl-1,3-propanediol and one or more tertiary amine urethane catalysts wherein the amount of 2-methyl-1,3-propanediol is sufficient to achieve a catalyst composition viscosity of 100 to 2000mPa and wherein the polyol includes at least one of polyether and polyester polyols and wherein the polyisocyanate and polyol are provided in amounts such that the isocyanate index is in the range of 70 to 115.

2. The method of claim 1 in which the one or more tertiary amine urethane catalysts are selected from triethylenediamine; 1,8-diaza-bicyclo(5.4.0)undecene-7; quinuclidine; substituted quinuclidines; substituted pyrrolizidines; substituted pyrrolidines; pentamethyldipropylenetriamine; tris(3-dimethylaminopropyl)amine; dimethylcyclohexyl-amine; methyldicyclohexylamine; N,N-dimethylethanolamine; N-alkyl morpholines; dimethylaminopropylamine; N,N,N″,N″-tetramethyldipropylene-triamine; N,N-bis-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-N-isopropanolamine; N-(3-dimethylamino-propyl)-N,N-diisopropanolamine; 2-(2-dimethylaminoethoxy)ethanol;2-[N-(dimethyl-aminoethyl)-N-methylamino]ethanol; trimethylamine;triethylamine; tributylamine; trioctylamine; diethyl cyclohexylamine; N-methyl-morpholine; N-ethylmorpholine; N-octadecylmorpholine (N-cocomorpholine); N-methyl-diethanolamine; N,N-dimethyl-ethanolamine; N,N′-bis(2-hydroxypropyl)piperazine;N,N,N′,N′-tetramethylethylenediamine; N,N,N′, N′-tetramethyl-1,3-propanediamine; 1,4-bis(2-hydroxypropyI)-2-methylpiperazine; N,N-dimethylbenzylamine; N,N-diethylbenzylamine; N-ethyl-hexamethyleneamine; N-ethylpiperidine; alpha-methyl-benzyldimethylamine; dimethylhexadecylamine; dimethylcetylamine; bisdimethylaminoethyl ether; pentamethyldiethylenetriamine; permethylated polyamines; branched polyamines; 2-[N-(dimethylaminoethoxyethyl)-N-methylamino]ethanol; alkoxylated polyamines; imidazole-borons; aminopropyl-bis(aminoethyl)ethers; 2-dimethylaminoethyl urea; N,N′-bis(2-dimethylaminoethyl) urea; N,N-bis(2-dimethylaminoethyl) urea; 3-dimethyl-aminopropyl urea; N,N′-bis(3-dimethyl-aminopropyl) urea; N,N-bis(3-dimethylamino-propyl) urea; 1-(N-methyl-3-pyrrolidino)-methyl urea; 1,3-bis(N-methyl-3-pyrrolidino)-methyl urea; 3-piperidinopropyl urea; N,N′-bis(3-piperidinopropyl) urea; 2-piperidinoethyl urea; N,N′-bis(2-piperidinoethyl) urea and mixtures thereof.

3. The method of claim 1 in which the one or more tertiary amine urethane catalysts are selected from triethylenediamine; pentamethyldipropylenetriamine; bisdimethylaminoethyl ether; pentamethyldiethylenetriamine; 3-dimethylaminopropyl urea, N,N′-bis(3-dimethyl-aminopropyl) urea, 1-(N-methyl-3-pyrrolidino)methyl urea, 1,3-bis(N-methyl-3-pyrrolidino)methyl urea, and mixtures thereof.

4. The method of claim 1 in which the one or more tertiary amine urethane catalysts are selected from the group consisting of triethylenediamine, bisdimethylaminoethyl ether, or a mixture thereof.

5. The method of claim 1 in which the catalyst composition is 10 to 90wt % one or more tertiary amine catalysts and 90 to 10 wt % 2-methyl-1,3-propanediol component.

6. The method of claim 1 in which the catalyst composition is 25 to 80 wt % tertiary amine catalyst and 75 to 20 wt % 2-methyl-1,3-propanediol.

7. The method of claim 1 in which the catalyst composition is 60 to 90 wt % tertiary amine catalyst and 30 to 10 wt % 2-methyl-1,3-propanediol.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the relative amounts of the components in the formulation produce a flexible polyurethane foam of 16 to 65 kg/m 3 density, and a tear strength greater than 200 N/m.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the formulation includes an auxiliary blowing agent.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the foam also has a Support Factor of about 2.67 as determined by ASTM D-3574 after conditioning for at least seven days at about 23° C. and 50% relative humidity .

11. The method of claim 8 wherein the foam has a Support Factor of about 2.67 as determined by ASTM D-3574 after conditioning for at least seven days at about 23° C. and 50% relative humidity.

12. The method of claim 8 wherein the foam has a Support Factor of about 3.03 as determined by ASTM D-3574 after conditioning for at least seven days at about 23° C. and 50% relative humidity.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the polyisocyanate comprises toluene diisocyanate.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the polyisocyanate comprises 4,4′-diphenylmethane diisocyanate.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the flexible polyurethane foam has a 16 to 65 kg/m 3 density, a tear strength greater than 200N/m and a percent elongation of less than 128%.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein the formulation includes at least one cell stabilizer.

17. The method of claim 4 wherein the one or more tertiary amine urethane catalysts comprises triethylenediamine.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein the amount of 2-methyl-1,3-propanediol is sufficient to increase air flow in the foam.

19. The method of claim 4 wherein the one or more tertiary amine urethane catalyst comprises bisdimethylaminoethyl ether.

20. The method of claim 1 wherein the catalyst composition consists essentially of 2 methyl-1,3-propanediol, triethylenediamine and dimethylaminopropylamine.

21. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more tertiary amine urethane catalysts are blocked with a carboxylic acid, a phenol or a substituted phenol.

22. The method of claim 1 wherein the polyol consists essentially of polyether polyols.

23. A method for making a polyurethane foam comprising:
preparing a catalyst consisting essentially of at least one diluent selected from the group consisting of dipropylene glycol, ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol, at least one tertiary amine catalyst and 2-methyl-1,3-propanediol wherein the catalyst composition has a viscosity of 100-2000 mPa,
preparing a pre-mix comprising the catalyst composition, at least one polyether polyol, water and at least one silicone surfactant,
contacting the pre-mix with at least one isocyanate under conditions sufficient to produce the foam.

24. The method of claim 23

Assignees

• Bender Jared Denis
• Listemann Mark Leo
• Tobias James Douglas
• Evonik Degussa Gmbh

Inventors

• Bender Jared Denis
• Listemann Mark Leo
• Tobias James Douglas

Classifications

• C08G18/4841

  containing oxyethylene end groups · CPC title

• C08G18/1833

  having ether, acetal, or orthoester groups · CPC title

• C08G18/4804

  Two or more polyethers of different physical or chemical nature · CPC title

• C08G18/7621

  being toluene diisocyanate including isomer mixtures · CPC title

• C08G18/7657

  containing two or more aromatic rings · CPC title