A copper based catalyst for poly-urethane synthesis from discarded motherboard

Abstract

By displaying thermoplastic, elastomeric and thermoset behavior depending on their chemical and morphological properties, polyurethanes have caught attention since 1937 when Bayer and his co-workers made them for the first time using the reaction of polyester diol and isocyanate. To produce a great range of versatility, various isocyanates can be used for making linear or cross-linked polyurethanes. Here we used IPDI as isocyanate and bamboo polyol as polyalcohol to prepare hard polyurethane and polyurethane foam. A cheap copper-based catalyst has been synthesized from discarded motherboard to replace the industrially used tin-based catalyst DBTDL [dibutyltin(IV) dilaurate] which is expensive and we found almost similar productivity compared to conventional catalyst DBTDL. By optimizing catalyst loading, time and temperature, a 97% yield was obtained with 1.8 mol% catalyst loading in 2 hours. A plausible mechanism has also been proposed.