Abstract: Polyol could be obtained from degradation of waste polyurethane (PU) foam and then mixed with polyether, a catalyst and a foam stabilizer to form a series of oligomers. Subsequently, these oligomers could be mixed with isocyanate to prepare a type of recycled rigid polyurethane foam for reuse. In this paper, we investigated the effect of addition amounts of two-component small molecule alcohol on the degraded material and the effect of additives on the strength of the rigid PU foam. The morphology, viscosity, strength, water absorption and thermal stability of the PU foam were investigated by polarizing light microscopy, FTIR, TGA. The results indicated that the optimum process condition for preparation of the rigid PU foam was determined as the polyether polyol 4110/ethylene glycol weight ratio of 50/30, and the resultant PU form achieved the compressive strength of 133.3 kPa, a water absorption of 0.552 5 %, a thermal conductivity of 0.015 19 W/(m·K) and a density of 37 kg/cm3. The rigid PU foam developed by this work presented the comprehensive performance in accord with the national standards.

Key words: polyurethane foam, small molecule alcohol, alcoholysis, foaming