Synthesis and characterization of novel polyurethane foam for sport footwear application

• Main Author: Pribathama, Ferdinandus Kevin
• Other Authors: Alfred Tok Iing Yoong
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2020
• Subjects: Engineering::Materials
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/139143
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Nowadays, technology has been incorporated into all our things and help us. Human has researched to enhance their technology as demand keep increasing. Sport is one aspect that technology had been touch years ago. Many sports industries always seek breakthrough equipment that will help their athletes to maximize their performance during competition. One of these breakthroughs is foam. Research has been done to improve the performance of foams in different sport applications. The most often foam that has been used is Poly Urethane foam (PU). Further investigation of PU foam, including various types of filler, need to be done to enhance the properties of foam for sport application. In this study, four kinds of HGM (Hollow glass microsphere) fillers have been incorporated into PU foam to synthesize new composite foam for winter sports applications. HGM with four different pore sizes in several concentrations has been synthesized and studied. The new composite foam then characterized based on the density, mechanical properties, thermal stability, thermal conductivity, and SEM imaging. Through the addition of HGM filler, the mechanical properties tend to increase along with an increase in concentration and pore size. The highest compression strength is achieved with the addition of 8 wt% concentration of HGM- HK 60 which increased by 12.77 times higher than normal PU foam. The thermal stability also improved after the addition of the filler. The highest thermal stability obtained with the addition of 2 wt% concentration of HGM – HK 20 with an increase in 11oC from regular PU foam. Furthermore, the thermal conductivity decreases after the addition of the filler. The lowest thermal conductivity is achieved with the addition of 5wt% concentration of HGM-HK 20 with reducing in 0.08 W/mK from normal PU foam. These enhancements prove that this material will be beneficial for winter sports applications.