Preparation and characterization of polyurethane /charcoal foam

composite
Taranitharan Thiruselvan*, Dr. Firuz Zainuddin*
* Polymer Engineering, School of Material Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), Kompleks Pusat Pengajian
Jejawi 2, Taman Muhibbah, 02600 Jejawi, Arau, Perlis, Malaysia.

Abstract

In this research, polyurethane rigid foam with charcoal filler were prepared and characterized. The purpose is to use coco-
nut shell charcoal filler which was grinded to obtain powder form to be used as particulate filler in polyurethane foam to
produce a composite with its mechanical strength to be identified by several testings. Properties of the composite foam were
compared with the control PU foam with four percentage considered (2%, 4%, 6% and 8%). Two batch were produced with
different procedures where the first batch the filler were mixed with polyol first them MDI while for the second batch is where
the filler were mixed with MDI then polyol. Compression test was executed to compare the modulus and the compressive
strength of the filled foam. Density test were also carried out to determine the effect of filler loading on the PU foam. The
density does not vary much when more filler is added due to the characteristic structure of the charcoal filler. Morphology of
the foam surface that undergone the compression test were probed using Scanning Electron Microscopy. The images obtained
shows the ruptured closed cells and the difference in average cell size upon filler loading. The spectroscopy behavior of the
charcoal composite PU foam was analyzed using the Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The chemical structure
and functional groups were inspected from the peak analysis of the sample tested.

Keywords: Polyurethane foam; Preparation; Characterization; Charcoal; Coconut shell; Composite

1. Introduction
In the lte 1980, the Mlyn Plm Ol Bord (MPOB) al-
Many yer go, pltc ndutre were ung dfferent knd ready commenced in manufacturing polyol from epoxdzed
of fom compoton to produce vrety of pltc product plm ol [3, 4]. There is some research that already been using
uch polyethylene nd expnded polytyrene untl they polyol decended from refned bleched deodorzed (RBD) plm
dcovered polyurethne nd tht t could be ltered n mny ol to make rgd PU fom. The denty of the obtned PU fom
dfferent wy. provded is pproxmtely 200 kg/m3 wth compreve
trength greter thn 1 MP. Plm ol-bed polyol cn be
wrought for producng rgd nd em-rgd fom to be utilized
Polyurethne based fom hve been commerclly ued n wll, celng-pnel nd nultor.
dvere vrety of application ubequently from 1940. Even
now we can notice that polyurethane foam plays an important
role in industrial sectors. Mostly these rigid polyurethane foam The progressive rife uage of polymer based nultor n ve-
is used as thermal insulating materials for construction pur- hcle trnmon ytem nd dtrbutor h fronted to n
pose and for sole insulation in refrigerators and freezers [1]. ongong pursuit for qulty nd low cot insulators. Th pur-
Polyurethne re condered eter or mde eter of suit h, consecutively, reulted n amended performnce nd
crbonc cd. They re ynthezed by the recton of poly- cot profits, brought bout by the ue of new compote nd
functonl hydroxyl compound wth polyfunctonl polymerc ren. Sporadically, however, although ome prop-
ocynte. erte were enhanced, there is some lo of prime performnce.
Therefore, to undertnd the behvor of these improvement
and losses caused by additives added such as fller (crbon
n generl, ctlyt, urfctnt, nd blowng gent re lo blck, chrcol, lc nd mc) to plm ol-derved polyure-
employed to varies the morphology nd properte of the foam thne ren several tests such as thermal, mechanical and
cell tructure. In some cases, these additives were already morphology test were done.
mixed with the polyol and diisocyanates. Mot viable
docynte nd polyol re developed from the rpdly
dmnhng nturl reource petroleum [2]. For now, the sub- The outcomes of thee tet undoubtedly validated tht th
stitution is only been discovered for polyol to be produced from type of rens nd t compote cn be ued to augment or
renewble reource uch ft, ol nd trch from agricul- mntn the traits of the pure ren nd affixing ome extr
ture. A number of reercher hve depicted the uage of re- features to the rgd polyurethne fom manufactured. Bede,
newble rw mterl to concoct PU foams. ome of them hve the mjor ngredent to mke the polyurethne fom hve been
scrutinized the potentials of convertng vegetble ol nto pol- lghtly reduced the fller ply t prt to fll up the mtrx of
yol for making PU fom. polyurethne to reduce the cot nd uge of petroleum bed
ren [5].
__________
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +6016 4477057
E-mail address: taranitharan@gmail.com (Thiruselvan.T)
 Tody, hgh rte of urbnzton encountered n certn Mkmnte 80 nd uppled from Mkm Polyol dn. Bhd.
regon, well n ncreng wrene bout utnblty, Chemcl compoton of Mkmnte 80 follow;
whch men tht the chemcl ued n ndutre move more Polymerc MD (C No. 9016-87-9) wth concentrton of 55%
towrd envronmentl frendly nd to ve the depleton of pe- whle the other 45% Methylene Dphenyldocynte (C
troleum bed chemcl. Th goe me to the producton of No. 101-68-8). Tble 2 how the phycl nd chemcl proper-
polyurethne rgd fom tht drvng the future demnd for te of docynte.
bo-bed ocynte nd polyol. methylene dphenyl
docynte (MD), doe not hve n effectve ubttute from Table 1
commerclzed bo-bed ocynte, the next mot Phycl nd chemcl properte of Mkmfom 9935B/35
mportnt mterl n rgd polyurethne fom producton, pol- uppled from Mkm Polyol dn. Bhd [6].
yol whch were ble to be commerclly produced ung plm Phycl Yellow Lqud
ol to ntlze the utnblty nd help n reducng the de- Odor Chrctertc
pleton of petroleum product. Denty (25C) Mn 1.10 g/cm3
Vcoty (25C) 250 50 cp
Fller mnly dded to polyurethne fom to gve extr olublty n wter Dolve n wter
properte for the pplcton purpoe nd thee properte Flhpont Not pplcble
vlued mot fller re chep. Chrcol powder fller lo
very chep form of crbon fller nd the chrcol powder
Table 2
producton n term of reung the coconut hell chrcol Phycl nd Chemcl Properte of Mkmnte 80 uppled
very productve. nce the powdered coconut hell chrcol
from Mkm Polyol dn. Bhd. [6].
flled rgd PU compote fom h not been reported ex-
tenvely n the lterture, n undertndng of the com- Phycl Brown lqud
preon performnce of the powdered coconut hell chrcol Odor Chrctertc
flled fom requred nd covered n th tudy. The dheon Denty (25C) 1.22 1.25 g/cm3
between the chrcol prtculte nd the polymerc mtrx, Vcoty (25C) 150 250 cp
regent ued n fom preprton, nd the dperon of olublty n wter Not oluble n wter nd rect
chrcol fller n the fom re fctor controllng fom wth t
mechncl performnce.

The mn purpose of th reerch to determine the prop- The coconut hell chrcol ued uppled by Hrrnwre
erte of the chrcol flled rgd polyurethne fom from the Chrcol Brquette. The chrcol whch n the brquette form
testings carried out. Charcoal filler is processed into required grnded nd eved by centfc eve wth pproxmtely
size and used in different percentage for filler incooperation 63-mcron ze powder eved. The fom prepred bed on
with polyurethane to form a composite foam. Different mixing the mold volume. The mold ued to prepre the fom n
method were introduced and the properte of the chrcol rectngulr frme wth dmenon of cloed rectngulr mold
flled rgd polyurethne fom re determned by denty tet, 250mm x 190mm x 75mm. For control PU fom the weght
compreve tet, therml behvor, morphology nd rto of polyol to ocynte l : 1.1. The totl weght rto of
pectrocopy. Denty tet done manually by weighing the PU fom 220 g (ccordng to dmenon of rectngulr mold).
mass and dividing its volume. Density test is done to determine Tble 3 nd Tble 4 how the formulton for control nd PU
the porosity of the foam. Compreve tet done ung the wth the chrcol powder.
ntron mchne followng the (TM D1621). Th tet scheme
deignates technique for ascertaining the compreve prop- Table 3
erte of unyielding cellulr mterl, predominantly The formulton of control PU fom.
expnded pltc, bed on tet mchne crohed moton. Mterl Rto Totl Weght (g)
Morphology nly oberved by ung the cnnng Elec- Polyol 1 104.76
tron Mcrocopy (EM) nly. Fourer Trnmon nfr ocynte 1.1 115.24
Red Chrcterzton (FTR) run to nlyze the chemcl Coconut hell Chrcol - -
nly nd to dentfy the functional group on rgd polyure- Powder
thne fom with chrcol fller loded composite.
Table 4
2. Experimental The formulton of expected coconut hell chrcol powder
ued.
2.1. Materials Mterl Rto Totl Weght (g)
Polyol 1 104.76
ocynte 1.1 115.24
The mn mterl n producng the coconut hell chrcol
Coconut hell Chrcol 2%, 4% nd 4.4, 8.8 nd 13.2
flled rgd polymer fom polyol, MD nd coconut hell
Powder 6%
chrcol powder. The polyol ued the Mkmfom
9935B/35 whch uppled from Mkm Polyol dn. Bhd.
Mkmfom 9935B/35 polyether polyol wth mne 2.2. Sample Preparation
ctlyt (<0.8%) whch wll rect wth ocynte to form poly-
urethne. Tble 1 how the phycl nd the chemcl proper- The charcoal in its original form cannot be used as a filler due
te of the polyol. The docynte ued n th tudy to its size and need to be processed to acquire the right size
which is smaller than 63 microns. There were few processes
2
done to get the small particulate form of charcoal filler from the The pprtu ued for th tetng the me tht ued n
chunk of coconut shell charcoals which were originally in bri- tenle tet. The only mechncl tetng ued for th reerch
quette form. Thus, it is grinded, sieved and oven dried before the compreon tet. Compreon tetng w conducted c-
used as filler. The grndng proce done by ung RT-34 cordng to TM D1621-10 ung Unverl Tetng Mchne
Mnture Grnder whch ue the prncple of hmmer nd (UTM) ntron 5560 mchne. The mple dmenon cube
collon between grndng chmber nd jgged cruhng lner, of 50mmx50mmx50 mm. The crohed peed for com-
nd djut the output fnene by dfferent pore ze of preon tet 10mm/mn t 253oC. n verge of fve
replceble flter creen, utble for mll cle producton of mple reported.
every mterl. Wth grnder pnnng t 3450 RPM the
fnene of the grnded rngng from 5mm to 6mm. Chrcol 2.3.3. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR)
brquette cruhed nd flled n the grnder. The grndng
proce done repetedly for to cqure fner prtculte Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) machine
form. model Perkin Elmer FT-IR Spectrometer Spectrum RX-1 was
used to characterize the chemical structures of the obtained
The evng proce done to obtn the expected ze of the rigid charcoal filled PU foam. The PU charcoal composite foam
coconut hell chrcol powder. centfc eve wth flt meh were scraped to obtain the powder foam of the foam for about
ze of 63-mcron, whch lo the dered ze for the 0.01 grams to 0.03 grams to be clamped in the FTIR infrared
prtculte fller is used to sieve the grinded charcoal powder. hole. It is tested from a spectrum ranging from 4000 to 650 cm-
evng done nd the powder collected n clen contner. 1.

The open evng nd envronment humdty mght hve cued

the chrcol powder to be lghtly humd nd tck together 2.3.4. Morphology (cnnng Electron Mcrocopy)
thu the eved chrcol powder mmedtely dred n oven
t 80oC for bout overnght before ued for recton. The oven fter the pecmen w deformed, EM mchne model JOEL-
dryng proce repet every tme jut before the fller dded JM-6460-L ued to exmne the urfce morphology. The
nto the proce lter on to vod humdty. pecmen w cut nto mll ze whch 10 mm x 10 mm x
10mm to undergo EM. EM h n dvntge n uffcently
Mxng proce wll be done n two wy tht mxng of produce cler enlrgement of the mge to vew the cell nd
fller n polyol nd docynte. Polyol nd chrcol powder t functon by cnnng the pecmen wth hgh energy bem
re mxed together ung hgh peed trrer wth 2000 rpm n of electron.
20 seconds. fter mxng polyol wth chrcol powder the
docynte dded nd mxed for 20 econds at 2000rpm 4,4- methylene
Polyol + Coconut shell
untl the mxture blended well together homogeneouly untl dphenyl dsocynte +
charcoal powder
the mxture relee het ndctng the ntton of the Coconut shell charcoal
chemcl recton. nother et of mxng done wth lght powder
chnge n procedure where chrcol powder frt mxed wth
docynte before ddng n the polyol. The mxture wll be Mix (2000 rpm in for
poured nto the cloed mold wth dmenon of 250mm x 20 sec) Mix (2000 rpm in for
190mm x 75mm. fter pourng the mxture, the mold h to 20 sec)
cloe ft before the mxture rng nd overflow. The mold 4,4- methylene
wth polyurethne fom plced n room temperture nd dphenyl dsocynte Polyol
cured for 1 hour and post cured in oven at 800C with the mold
for another 1 hour. fter curng the mple tken out from
the mold. The overall flow chart is as shown in Figure 1 . Mixing process (2000 rpm for 20 sec)

2.3. Characterization of Samples Casting into mould

2.3.1. Denty Meurement

Curing at room temperature for 1 hour
Denty the m per unt volume of ubtnce, the ym-
bol ued for denty (Greek letter rho) nd t unt re Postcured in oven for another 1 hour at 800C
kg/m3. Where volume meure of the pce occuped by
old nd meured by multply length by length, f the
length n meter the unt of volume cubc meter (m 3) nd Rigid Polyurethane foam filled with
m the mount of mtter n body nd t meured n coconut shell charcoal composite
klogrm (kg). From the bulk fom produced 5 cube mple
wth dmenon of 50mm x 50mm x 50mm cut nd teted for
t denty nd the verge denty wll be recorded for ech
1. Density Measurement
type of formulton.
2. Compression test
3. Morphology (SEM)
2.3.2. Compreon Tet
4. Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)
n th reerch, unxl compreon w ued to tet nd
evluted the trn-rte effect of the compote mterl. Fig. 1. The flow chrt of methodology.

3
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Compression strength
The variation of compressive strength over charcoal filler
loading is clearly shown in Fig. 2. From the bar graph in Fig. 2,
the compressive strength tends to increase as the percentage
of charcoal filler were added until certain percentage and it be-
gins to decrease from the highest compressive strength value.
However, the decrease in value still shows better compressive
strength value compared to the unfilled polyurethane foam.
There is a difference in value between the set data of compres-
sive strength between the 1st batch; where the charcoal filler is
mixed with polyol first then MDI and the 2nd batch; where the
charcoal filler is mixed with MDI first then polyol to produce
the composite foam.
0.7
Compressive strength (MPa)
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0% 2% 4% 6%
Percentage of charcoal filler added (%)
FILLER MIXED WITH POLYOL THEN MDI
FILLER MIXED WITH MDI THEN POLYOL
Fig. 2: Variation of compressive strength over charcoal filler
loading.
The variation shows that the compressive strength set data
collected for the 2nd batch is always higher than the 1st batch.
This differences is mainly due to the mixing technique. Polyol
is known to have a lower viscosity and molecular weight com-
pared to the MDI. Thus, when mixing the filler with polyol is
much easier and it can be dispersed easier and faster through-
out the polyol. However, the next addition that is the MDI have
higher viscosity and need longer time to be homogeneously
mixed with the filler polyol mixture. There arises a problem as
the reaction of polyurethane foam to start is very fast and this
time restriction causes to reduce the time for mixing the polyol
filler mixture and MDI. This might cause the filler not to be well
dispersed throughout the polyurethane foam matrix and re-
duced the value of the compressive strength.
Nevertheless, the 2nd batch where the filler is mixed with
MDI takes longer time to be homogeneously mixed and dis-
persed throughout the MDI compared to the filler polyol mixing
due to the viscosity and the surface tension of the MDI. The ad-
vantage of doing this mixing technique is that the next added
compound which is the polyol have lower viscosity and can mix
faster accordingly to the reaction to produce the foam and ease
the process and there is also less chances of the charcoal filler
to dispense. Thus, the filler is much well dispersed in this poly-
urethane foam matrix and shows the enhance in strength.
3.2. Compression Modulus
When the modulus of a foam increase, the compressive
strength must also tally with the modulus [7]. In the region of
where the modulus is calculated in the raw data plotted by the
Instrons lab automation software Maestro, the foam is said to
have the deformation of which the foam can still returns to its
original size after the stress is removed. In other word, it is un-
dergoing elastic deformation. Fig. 3 shows that as in tally with
the compressive strength the 4% charcoal filler loaded foam
shows the highest modulus value and it can be analyzed that it
shows an increasing trend compared to the control foam which
is from 2% to 6% of the filler loading although there is a slight
fall in modulus value for the 6% filler loaded foam.
The presence of filler during the foam expansion affect the
chemical structure of the foam and this causes the foam to be-
come brittle and have lower capability to deform elastically.
This is the reason why the 6% filler loaded foam shows less
modulus value than the 4% filler filled foam. Explaining 4%
filler loaded foam shows the highest value in modulus because
it is the best ratio of filler that can be distributed uniformly in
the polyurethane foam matrix and this lowering the pin point
of pressure which could cause fracture of the cell.
8%
The pressure pin point will usually occur in the area where
there is agglomeration of fillers which causes uneven distribu-
tion of force or pressure to cause the cells in the foam to frac-
ture and lowers the ability to reform its cell size after the force
was removed.
8
7
6
Modulus (MPa)
5
4
3
2
1
0
0% 2% 4% 6% 8%
Percentage of charcoal filler added (%)
FILLER MIXED WITH POLYOL THEN MDI
FILLER MIXED WITH MDI THEN POLYOL
Fig. 3: Variation of compression modulus over charcoal
filler loading.
3.3. Density Test
Density test is done by dividing the mass of the particles in
a material by the overall volume occupied by it. The overall vol-
ume sum is including inter-particle voids volume, particles
4
volume and the internal volume of the pores [8]. For foam pro-
duced in closed molds the density seems to tally with the com-
pressive strength value as filler loading amount varies. The
density change can be observed through the morphology of the
cell itself. In Fig. 4, the graph shows that the highest density
value is shown by the foam loaded with 4% of charcoal fillers
with the 2nd batch showing slightly higher value than 1st batch.
This is mainly due to the mixing method, where the viscosity
play its role as explained in third paragraph in section 3.1. On
the other hand, for the lowest density is shown by the 8% filler
loaded foam. As filler increases during the mixture it is very
hard to ensure that the dispersion of filler is well and uniform,
thus leading to agglomeration of the filler [9].
56
get the foaming done. Thus, causing it to be smaller as the more
filler is added more force needed for foaming with the filler in-
corporated on the cells and vice versa. [12]. As more filler
added its seems the rigidity will increase due to the filler to fill
up the spaces in the foam causing a much dense yet rigid struc-
ture. Thus, adding too much of fillers could cause drop of foam
properties and the right amout of charcoal filler percentage for
filling the PU foam is around 4%.
The average cell is approximately calculated as the size were
already out of shape due to the compression effect which shows
a lot of ruptured cells as in Fig. 7. Average cell size of control PU
foam is approximately about 500m. However, upon filler ad-
dition from 2%, 4%, 6% to 8% there is gradual change in aver-
age cell size accordingly from 450 m, 400 m, 380 m to 300
m.

54
DENSITY (kg/m^3)

52

50

48

46
0% 2% 4% 6% 8% Fig. 5: Control PU foam without charcoal fillers.
Amount of filler loading (%)

FILLER MIXED WITH POLYOL FIRST THEN MDI (1st Batch)

FILLER MIXED WITH MDI FIRST THEN POLYOL (2nd Batch)

Fig. 4: Variation of density over filler loading based on two

mixing method.

However, the decrease is not much as and varies a lot in raw

data obtained this is caused by the natural characteristic of the Fig. 6: PU foam filled with 2% charcoal filler.
charcoal particles itself as they have millions of pores to ab-
sorbs air molecules [10]. This is because during the charcoal
making process the charcoal will be treated with oxygen which
then increases its adsorbent characteristics. Hence as this oc-
cluded air molecules increases; the bulk density tends to de-
crease.

3.4. Morphology (SEM)

Scanning electron microscopy result were shown in the fol-

lowing Fig. 5 to Fig. 8 according to the percentage of filler
added. The accelerated voltage used was 10 kV. The scanned Fig. 7: PU foam filled with 4% charcoal filler.
cross-sectional surfaces are showing ruptured cells as the foam
were scanned after the compression testing were done. It can
be noticed that some unruptured cells are almost spherical in
shape with many windows which shows that they are closed
cells [11]. The size of the foaming cell decreases as the percent-
age of fillers added increases [12]. From the result of SEM itself
there is a gradual change in cell size averagely from Fig. 5 to Fig.
8.

However, to be precise the uniformity of the cell size is var-

ied when filler added this is because the dispersion of fillers in
the matrix during the foaming will cause difference in force to Fig. 8: PU foam filled with 8% charcoal filler.

5
3.5. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) 4. Conclusion

The FTIR spectrum of the PU foams prepared from palm oil-
based polyol is shown in Fig. 9 and Fig. 10 exhibit the charac-
teristic peaks of urethane bonds at wavenumbers ranging from
3314 to 3299 cm-1 (-NH stretching), 1709 to 1712 cm-1 (-CO
stretching) 1517 to 1519 cm-1 (-NH bending) and 1393 to
1395 cm-1 (-OCONH asymmetric stretching). They also exhibit
a characteristic peak of unreacted NCO groups which is collec-
tive in materials synthesized using spare isocyanate relative to
polyol.
Then for there is a peak identified after the charcoal filler is
incorporated with the PU foam. This region indicates the hy-
drogen-bonded O-H stretch as noted it may obscure other
peaks in this region. Particularly, the newly marked peak in this
region which lays in the range of 2820-2780 show the func-
tional group, N-CH3 the methylamino radical.
In general, there is no much difference in peak from the re-
sults obtained for the first batch and the second batch due to
the same aggregate of chemicals and materials used in process
while the difference is just focused on the method of processing
which also proves that charcoal does not have any specific
chemical reaction with polyol or MDI and a good choice to be
used as filler.
Cont rol
3632.51
2951.57
2517.84
2168.61
3313.78 2878.71
Wrapping up this research, the preparation of the charcoal
filled polyurethane composite foam were accomplished and
the characterization were done by analyzing the morphology
and mechanical testing data. Result obtained were sorted to
two set of data due to the two-different mixing method used.
Conclusion were drawn for compression test that the particu-
late charcoal filler has the credibility to enhance the strength of
the foam. Upon addition of the charcoal filler 2% and 4% f filler
content the strength and the modulus increases correspond-
ingly and decreases upon further addition of filler of 6% and
8%. However, the decrease is still considered better than the
result control PU foam. From here it is concluded that the opti-
mum amount charcoal filler addition into the polyurethane
foam matrix lays in the range of 2% to 6%. Notably the 2nd
batch results show an average of better results compared to the
1st batch. This is due to the viscosity or the texture of the MDI
that said to be soften upon the stirring at 2000 rpm in the 2 nd
batch before adding the filler and the polyol that be added is
already less viscous compared to MDI can be mixed homogen-
enously much faster which is just about 20 second. Contrary-
wise, the 1st batch does not have this advantage as the viscous
MDI will be added straight away which will need more time for
mixing to get homogeneous, and this race the reaction time for
foaming. The compression modulus does tally with the com-
pression strength and density on the whole. It can be noticed
that the density does not avert much eventhough the set of data
928.80 correspond the modulus and strength because of the the char-
coal structure and processing nature to have pores to adsorb
2028.57 1605.81
1394.21
1302.24 755.22
1709.64

2% P olyol air particle. Eventhough measures were taken by oven drying

the filler every time before incorporation were done there is
1517.75 1216.91 1075.77

3632.44 2985.31 2809.22 2347.35 2027.06

still some deviation.After observing the cell size and structure

3302.51 2879.04 2171.11 1606.22 930.89
1393.92
1302.80 757.93
1710.94

%T
4% P olyol 1518.55 1218.01 1079.27
of the PU charcoal composite foam under scanning electron mi-
3631.83
2986.83 2808.81
2026.42
2165.81 930.61 croscope (SEM) there is a gradual change in size upon filler ad-
3299.00 2879.19 1606.10
1394.08
1302.67 757.43
dition increase. The cell size tends to decrease as filler is added.
8% P olyol
1710.74

1077.35
However, there is some difficulties if finding the filler agglom-
eration as only 0.24% of the total size of the cube tested were
1517.83 1217.23
2807.61 1080.46
1517.13
2987.99 2350.49 2026.18 1217.17
3631.96

cut and observed.Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy test

3299.74 2879.04 2164.26 1604.87
1394.22
1711.02 1302.36 757.77

4000.0 3600 3200 2800 2400 2000 1800 1600 1400 1200 1000 800 650.0
were done to make sure that there exist no extra chemicals that
cm-1
used in the production of the charcoal to affect the chemical
Fig. 9: FTIR spectrum of Control PU foam and 1st batch char- structure of the polyurethane. Upon testing the results shown
coal filler mixed composite foam. a positive result as there is no contamination that could have
affected the main structure of the polyurethane foam as there
is almost no difference in peaks compared to filled and the con-
Cont rol

2517.84
trol foam.
2951.57 2168.61 928.80
3632.51
3313.78 2028.57 1605.81
2878.71 1394.21

Acknowledgment
1302.24 755.22
1709.64

2% MDI
1517.75 1216.91 1075.77

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my project

2806.91
2987.09 2349.05 2028.38 928.42
3633.49
3303.10 2878.83 2168.08 1605.62
1394.02

supervisor Dr. Firuz Zainuddin for opportunities she had gave

1302.53 756.96
1710.84

%T
4% MDI 1517.30 1216.95 1079.65
me to learn and to complete the project under her supervision.
I also would like to thank both the master students under my
2879.06 929.54
3313.95 2988.52 2346.89 2031.38
3632.22
2808.85 2170.27 1606.01

supervisor Suhaili and Hazmi for their guidance that really

1394.12 756.76
1710.46 1302.32

8% MDI 1518.51
1217.78

1217.36
1080.57
helped me in solving most of the problem on the study.
1517.13
2987.28 2808.65 2347.41 2027.29 930.72
3632.01 3303.25 2879.17 2167.62 1605.09
1394.17
1302.38 1079.75 757.02
1709.94

4000.0 3600 3200 2800 2400 2000 1800

cm-1
1600 1400 1200 1000 800 650.0 References

Fig. 9: FTIR spectrum of Control PU foam and 1st batch char-

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