Patent ID: 8815968
Filing Date: 2014-08-26
Classification: C08G,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A method of making polyurethane foam comprising a lipid-based polyol, the method including (a) making a prepolymer and then (b) making polyurethane foam using the prepolymer, the method comprising: (a) first making a prepolymer by a method comprising the steps of: providing at least one lipid-based polyol, a first amount of multifunctional isocyanate, a first amount of at least one gelation catalyst, and optionally a petrochemical polyol; and combining the lipid-based polyol, the first amount of isocyanate, the first amount of at least one gelation catalyst, and also said petrochemical polyol when present, together to form a polyol/isocyanate blend; reacting the polyol/isocyanate blend substantially without the use of added heat; thereby creating a prepolymer, the prepolymer being substantially unfoamed, and having available unreacted OH functional groups; and (b) providing the prepolymer previously created in step (a); and combining the prepolymer with a second amount of multifunctional isocyanate, with a foaming agent, optionally with a second amount of gelation catalyst, and optionally with a petrochemical polyol; and reacting the prepolymer, the second amount of isocyanate, the foaming agent, and said petrochemical polyol when present, in the presence of said second amount of gelation catalyst when present; thereby creating a polyurethane foam; wherein the first amount of at least one gelation catalyst is from 0.001 to 0.1 millimoles per each 100 grams of all polyols in the polyol/isocyanate blend; wherein the first amount of multifunctional isocyanate is in the range of from 0.01% to 33% of the stoichiometric amount of the multifunctional isocyanate(s) that would be required to react with all the available hydroxyl groups of the polyol(s) in the polyol/isocyanate blend; wherein the first amount of isocyanate comprises at least one of methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) and toluene diisocyanate (TDI); and wherein the polyol/isocyanate blend comprises sufficient lipid-based polyol so that the total lipid-based polyol content of the polyurethane foam is not less than 50% relative to the total polyol content of the foam by weight.