01 | 2008

Foam
From farmer to foamer
All the comforts of foam
Article contributed by Bill Brady,
Corporate Affairs, Cargill Inc.,
Minneapolis, MN, USA
Laboratory Technologist Matt Caldwell at work in
Cargill‘s BiOH polyols Research & Development Lab.
Are you sitting down? Chances are – whether
you’re parked on an office chair, a sofa or your
bed – you’re resting on a piece of polyurethane
foam. Polyurethane is just another modern miracle
that makes our life easier though we hardly notice it.
It is the material of choice when manufacturers look
for performance and environmental responsibility in
foams.
A key component of polyurethane – making up about
70% of its content – are polyols, made until recently exclusively
from petroleum. That has started to change,
thanks to advances in bio-based polyol production by
companies like Cargill, the international provider of
food and agricultural products and services.
Sales of Cargill’s BiOH brand of soybean-based
polyols are surging as polyurethane users look to diversify
their supply chains and ‘green up’ their product
lines. These formula changes mark the first steps
away from complete reliance on petro chemicals in the
$20 billion global polyurethanes industry.
A polyurethane primer
A polyurethane is any complex polymer resulting
from the reaction of a polyol with an isocyanate. The
original chemistry behind urethanes dates back to
1849. Today’s polyurethane formulations cover a wide
range of stiffness, hardness and densities, but in general
can be broken into three broad categories:
• Flexible Foams. They provide the comfortable ride in
automotive seating, the restful night’s sleep in bedding
and the warm and inviting atmosphere in furniture.
This is by far the biggest category.
• Rigid Foams, are used for insulation and a variety of
other applications in construction and refrigeration.
They provide the certainty your drink will stay cool
inside a refrigerator or picnic cooler or your house
will be warmer while using less energy.
• Coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers,
known collectively as the CASE market.
10 bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/08] Vol. 3