Title: REINFORCED ORGANIC NATURAL FIBER COMPOSITES

 Number/Link: WO2015/144267

Applicant/Assignee: Huntsman

Publication date: 1-10-2015

“Gist”: Aerogel particles are incorporated in composite wood boards

Why it is interesting: Composite wood products (OSB, MDF..) are  well known and popular construction materials which are produced by compressing wood fibers (or flakes and the like) together with a binder like e.g. a polymeric MDI. Typically these materials show thermal conductivity values of about 50 mW/m.K at densities of around 200 kg/m³.  According to this invention these insulation values can be significantly improved by incorporating (a large amount of) hydrophobic nanoporous particles and binding the composite with an in-water emulsified isocyanate. In the examples silica aerogel particles and wood fibers are mixed an bonded with an emulsifiable MDI. The amount of particles ranges from about 25 to 50% (w/w) resulting in composites with densities below 200 kg/m³ and insulation values of about 20 to 30 mW/mK.

Medium density fibreboard (MDF).