Abstract

In this study, a polymerized polyurethane foam was formulated from tannins extracted from Pinus radiata aspolyol, and copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO-NPs) at a concentration of 2 % w/w as a nucleating agent. This produced areinforced foam with better mechanical properties and fire resistance. The impact of the addition of CuO-NPs on themechanical and thermal properties of the tannin foam was also studied. The properties studied were foaming process, foamdensity, cell morphology, flammability and thermal conductivity. The results revealed that the CuO-NPs incorporated in thefoam formulation act as nucleation centers, which decrease the pore size, strengthen the cell walls, and improve mechanicalproperties. The tannin samples showed good thermal resistance performance with a limit oxygen index (LOI) higher than21 %. The results obtained were contrasted with two foams, a commercial foam (SoudaFoam) and a foam generated with thesame dissociate, but with a commercial polyol (LHT-112). The foam with NPs had an elastic modulus of 3.7 MPa and stress(max) of 1.13 MPa, which was higher than those of the foams used as controls.