Use of poly(butylene oxide) polyol to improve durability of MDI-polyurethane foams

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9255174-B2
Application number	US-201113817749-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 23, 2011
Priority date	Sep 29, 2010
Publication date	Feb 9, 2016
Grant date	Feb 9, 2016

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention relate to polyurethane foams having high air flow while maintaining viscoelastic properties. In one embodiment, a reaction system for preparation of a viscoelastic polyurethane foam is provided. The reaction system comprises (a) a polyisocyanate component and (b) an isocyanate reactive component. The isocyanate reactive component comprises (i) from 35 to 74% by weight of the isocyanate reactive component of one or more propylene oxide rich (PO-rich) polyols having a combined number average equivalent weight from 200 to 500, (ii) from 24 to 50% by weight of the isocyanate reactive component of one or more ethylene oxide rich (EO-rich) polyols having a combined number average equivalent weight from 200 to 2,800, and (iii) from 2 to 10% by weight of the isocyanate reactive component of one or more butylene oxide rich (BO-rich) polyethers having a number average equivalent weight of 2,000 or more.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A reaction system for preparation of a viscoelastic polyurethane foam comprising:
(a) a polyisocyanate component;
(b) an isocyanate reactive component comprising:
(i) from 35 to 68% by weight of the isocyanate reactive component of one or more propylene oxide rich (PO-rich) polyols having a combined number average equivalent weight from 200 to 500, and a polyoxypropylene content of at least 70% by weight of the total mass of the one or more PO-rich polyols;
(ii) from 30 to 45% by weight of the isocyanate reactive component of one or more ethylene oxide rich (EO-rich) polyols having a combined number average equivalent weight from 1,500 to 2,000, and a polyoxyethylene content of at least 70% by weight of the total mass of the one or more EO-rich polyols;
(iii) from 2 to 10% by weight of the isocyanate reactive component of one or more butylene oxide rich (BO-rich) polyethers having a combined number average equivalent weight of 2,000 or more, and a polyoxybutylene content of at least 70% by weight of the total mass of the one or more BO-rich polyethers;

(c) water; and
(d) a catalyst component.

2. The reaction system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more butylene oxide (BO) rich polyethers have a combined number average equivalent weight of 4,000 or more and the one or more PO-rich polyols comprise less than 65% by weight of the isocyanate reactive component.

3. The reaction system of claim 1 , wherein the component (b)(ii) comprises one or more EO-rich polyols having an equivalent weight of from 500 to 1,000, and the minimum amount of said one or more EO-rich polyols having equivalent weights from 500 to 1,000, in weight % of the isocyanate reactive component, is calculated by 22.6 plus 0.0041 times the combined number average of equivalent weights of the component (b)(ii) EO-rich polyols.

4. The reaction system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more PO-rich polyols comprises:
(b)(i)(A) from 30 to 60% by weight of the isocyanate reactive component of one or more PO-rich polyols having a combined number average equivalent weight from 200 to 500; and
(b)(i)(B) from 5 to 20% by weight of the isocyanate reactive component of one or more high equivalent weight PO-rich polyols having a combined number average equivalent weight from 800 to 2,000.

5. The reaction system of claim 1 , further comprising:
(e) an organosilicone surfactant.

6. A reaction system for preparation of a viscoelastic polyurethane foam comprising:
(a) a polyisocyanate component;
(b) an isocyanate reactive component comprising:
(i) from 35 to 58% by weight of the isocyanate reactive component of one or more propylene oxide rich (PO-rich) polyols having a combined number average equivalent weight from 200 to 500, and a polyoxypropylene content of at least 70% by weight of the total mass of the one or more PO-rich polyols;
(ii) from 30 to 45% by weight of the isocyanate reactive component of one or more ethylene oxide rich (EO-rich) polyols having a combined number average equivalent weight from 1,500 to 2,000, and a polyoxyethylene content of at least 70% by weight of the total mass of the one or more EO-rich polyols;
(iii) from 2 to 10% by weight of the isocyanate reactive component of one or more butylene oxide rich (BO-rich) polyethers having a combined number average equivalent weight of 2,000 or more, and a polyoxybutylene content of at least 70% by weight of the total mass of the one or more BO-rich polyethers;

(iv) from 10 to 25% by weight of the isocyanate reactive component of one or more poly(propylene oxide-co-ethylene oxide) monols, wherein the one or more poly(propylene oxide-co-ethylene oxide) monols have a combined number average equivalent weight from 400 to 600,
(c) water; and
(d) a catalyst component.

7. The reaction system of claim 6 , wherein the isocyanate reactive component (iv) comprises one or more poly(propylene oxide-co-ethylene oxide) monols having an ethylene oxide concentration that is between 40-60% by weight of the total mass of the monol.

8. The reaction system of claim 1 , wherein the polyisocyanate component (a) comprises:
from about 0 to 10% by weight of a toluene diisocyanate (TDI) based organic polyisocyanate; and
(ii) from about 90 to 100% by weight of a methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) based component.

9. A method of preparing a viscoelastic foam, comprising:
forming reaction components, comprising:
an organic polyisocyanate;
an isocyanate reactive component comprising:
one or more propylene oxide rich (PO-rich) polyols having a polyoxypropylene content of at least 70% by weight of the total mass of the one or more PO-rich polyols and a combined number average equivalent weight from 200 to 500 at an amount from 35 to 68% by weight of the isocyanate reactive component;
one or more ethylene oxide rich (EO-rich) polyols having a polyoxyethylene content of at least 70% by weight of the total mass of the one or more EO-rich polyols and a combined number average equivalent weight from 1,500 to 2,000 at an amount from 30 to 45% by weight of the isocyanate reactive component,
one or more butylene oxide rich (BO-rich) polyethers having a polyoxybutylene content of at least 70% by weight of the total mass of the one or more BO-rich polyols and a combined number average equivalent weight of 2,000 or more at an amount from 2 to 10% by weight of the isocyanate reactive component;

water; and
a catalyst component; and

combining the reaction components at conditions sufficient to form a viscoelastic polyurethane foam.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the one or more BO-rich polyethers have a combined number average equivalent weight of 4,000 or more and the one or more PO-rich polyols comprise less than 65% of the isocyanate reactive component.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the one or more PO-rich polyols comprises:
(b)(i)(A) from 30 to 60% by weight of the isocyanate reactive component of one or more PO-rich polyols having a combined number average equivalent weight from 200 to 500; and
(b)(i)(B) from 5 to 20% by weight of the isocyanate reactive component of one or more high equivalent weight PO-rich polyols having a combined number average equivalent weight from 800 to 2,000.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the polyisocyanate component (a) comprises:
(i) from about 0 to 10% by weight of a toluene diisocyanate (TDI) based organic polyisocyanate; and
(ii) from about 90 to 100% by weight of a methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) based component.

13. The method of claim 9 , wherein the isocyanate reactive component comprises: a polypropylene oxide-co-ethylene oxide monol at an amount from 10 to 25% by weight of the isocyanate reactive component.

14. A reaction system for preparation of a viscoelastic polyurethane foam comprising:
(a) a polyisocyanate component;
(b) an isocyanate reactive component comprising:
(i) from 35 to 68% by weight of the isocyanate reactive component of one or more propylene oxide rich (PO-rich) polyols having a combined number average equivalent weight from 200 to 500, and a polyoxypropylene content of at least 70% by weight of the total mass of the one or more PO-rich polyols;
(ii) from 30 to 45% by weight of the isocyanate reactive component of one or more ethylene oxide rich (EO-rich) polyols having a combined number average equivalent weight from 1,500 to 2,000, and a polyoxyethylene content of at least 70% by weight of the total mass of the one or more EO-rich polyols;
(iii) from 2 to 10% by weight of the isocyanate reactive component of one or more butylene oxide rich (BO-rich) polyethers having a combined number average equivalent we

Assignees

• Aou Kaoru
• Gamboa Rogelio R
• Obi Bernard E
• Dow Global Technologies Llc

Inventors

• Aou Kaoru
• Gamboa Rogelio R
• Obi Bernard E

Classifications

• C08G18/4816

  mixtures of two or more polyetherpolyols having at least three hydroxy groups · CPC title

• C08G18/283

  Compounds containing ether groups, e.g. oxyalkylated monohydroxy compounds · CPC title

• C08G18/485

  containing mixed oxyethylene-oxypropylene or oxyethylene-higher oxyalkylene end groups · CPC title

• C08G18/4854 Primary

  Polyethers containing oxyalkylene groups having four carbon atoms in the alkylene group · CPC title

• C08G18/4829

  Polyethers containing at least three hydroxy groups (C08G18/4833 - C08G18/5096 take precedence) · CPC title