A Simple Approach to Distinguish Classic and Formaldehyde-Free Tannin Based Rigid Foams by ATR FT-IR

Tannin based rigid foams (TBRFs) have been produced with formaldehyde since 1994. Only recently several methods have been developed in order to produce these foams without using formaldehyde. TBRFs with and without formaldehyde are visually indistinguishable; therefore a method for determining the d...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Gianluca Tondi, Martin Link, Chuan Wei Oo, Alexander Petutschnigg
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2015-01-01
Series:Journal of Spectroscopy
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/902340
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Tannin based rigid foams (TBRFs) have been produced with formaldehyde since 1994. Only recently several methods have been developed in order to produce these foams without using formaldehyde. TBRFs with and without formaldehyde are visually indistinguishable; therefore a method for determining the differences between these foams had to be found. The attenuated total reflectance infrared spectroscopy (ATR FT-IR) investigation of the TBRFs presented in this paper allowed discrimination between the formaldehyde-containing (classic) and formaldehyde-free TBRFs. The spectra of the formaldehyde-free TBRFs, indeed, present decreased band intensity related to the C–O stretching vibration of (i) the methylol groups and (ii) the furanic rings. This evidence served to prove the chemical difference between the two TBRFs and explained the slightly higher mechanical properties measured for the classic TBRFs.
ISSN:2314-4920
2314-4939