Studies on Acacia mangium Polyol and its Applications as Polyurethane Products

概要

The growing concern for climate change and the need for safe and friendly environmental materials have stimulated the developments of alternative renewable materials to replace the conventional petroleum sources which have been extensively used in the chemical industry worldwide (Lonescu, 2005). One alternative technique that manufactures renewable materials is liquefaction.

Liquefaction is one of the compatible techniques used to convert biomass into low molecular weight polyol with low temperatures (150-250ºC). This technique has been researched extensively (Lin et al., 1996; Lee et al., 2000; Yamada and Ono, 2001; Kobayashi et al., 2004; Yamada et al., 2007; Hassan and Shukry, 2008; Lee and Lin, 2008; Chen and Lu, 2009; Kunaver et al., 2009; Jin et al., 2011). Polyhydric alcohols as such polyethylene glycol and glycerol are the kinds of solvent normally used due to their large capacities for liquefying biomass. Hence, most of those earlier researches have concentrated on this technique to convert biomass.

However, other sources of raw materials like lignocellulosic residues from agriculture and forestry are other promising feedstock for the production of sustainable polyol. In line with that, this research seeks to explore the fabrication of polyol through liquefaction from Acacia mangium wood chips. The rationale behind the choice of this forest species is that Acacia mangium is a fast growing species and are found abundant in Malaysian forests. In the long run this will ensure constant supply for the intermediate chemical feedstock and guarantee a successful and lucrative polyurethane industry