Polymeric Foams from Natural Oils (No Polyurethane)

Title: BIO-BASED FOAM FROM NATURAL OILS

Number/Link: US2012295993

Applicant/Assignee: Not yet disclosed but probably Univ. Delaware

Publication date: 22-11-2012

“Gist”: Natural oils are functionalized with different (mutually reactive) functional groups, blown/frothed with CO2 and subsequently cured optionally in the presence of chain extenders.

Why it is interesting: The foams of this invention are made from 100% renewable materials and without “toxic” isocyanates. Densities in the examples range from about 15 to 200 kg/m³. While the properties, look and feel of these materials probably do not come close to those of PU foams, they could be interesting competitors in some fields such as packaging foams.

Ford’s Soy-based Car Seats

Title: ENCAPSULATED FLEXIBLE POLYURETHANE FOAM AND METHOD FOR MAKING POLYOL TO FORM FOAM

Number/Link: US2012295998

Applicant/Assignee: FORD GLOBAL TECH LLC

Publication date: 22-11-2012

“Gist”: Soy-polyols with reduced smell produced by UV irradiation of soy oil in the presence of air and at room temperature. The polyols are useful to produce polyurethane car seat foams.

Why it is interesting: For a number of years now quite some research is being done on the use of bio-based polyols in polyurethanes, usually by chemical companies like Dow and Cargill, but -remarkably- Ford also have a number of patents in this field. Ford’s bio-patents usually relate to soy-oil, maybe there is some influence of the American soy lobby.

Soybean Farm (Wikimedia)

Polyurethane Ionomers and the “Golf Ball Conundrum”

Title: REINFORCING IONOMERIC MATERIALS USING MULTI-FUNCTIONAL MODIFIER WITH ACID FUNCTIONAL GROUP

Number/Link: US2012289364

Applicant/Assignee: TAYLOR MADE GOLF CO

Publication date: 11-11-2012

“Gist”: Use of carboxyl group-containing PU ionomers in golf ball covers.

Why it is interesting: It is claimed that certain PU ionomers have advantages over other ionomers for use in golf ball covers. In many golf balls SURLYN(TM) is used as the material of choice, Dupont even has a complete range of resins just for golf balls.
But what is really interesting – or at least remarkable- is the sheer number of golf ball patent applications published each year. More than 7500 were published during the last 10 year (see graph). About half of these applications are from the US, the rest mostly from the East: Japan, Korea and since 2005 also from China.

All these patents are about balls to be hit with a stick… it makes one wonder what there still is left to be improved..

Innovation in Polyurethanes

Polymeric Foams from Natural Oils (No Polyurethane)

Ford’s Soy-based Car Seats

Polyurethane Ionomers and the “Golf Ball Conundrum”

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