Effects of composition on thermal, mechanical properties and biodegradability of starch based polyurethane foams

Polyurethane foams (PU) were prepared combining natural polysaccharides wit h polyester polyols and an aliphatic diisocyanate. Two classes of PU foams were studied: the first one was prepared by using starch as one of the comp onents of the polyol mixture, while the second class was prepared by adding starch as filler to a reactive mixture containing sucrose in the polyol co mposition. Influence of chemical composition on mechanical, thermal and morphological properties were investigated. Moreover, biodegradation tests were performed on selected foams.