The invention provides polyurethane and polyisocyanurate foams and methods for the preparation thereof. More particularly, the invention relates to closed-celled, polyurethane and polyisocyanurate foams and methods for their preparation. The foams are characterized by a fine uniform cell structure and little or no foam collapse. The foams are produced with a polyol premix composition which comprises a combination of a hydrohaloolefin blowing agent, a polyol, a silicone surfactant, and a non-amine catalyst used alone or in combination with an amine catalyst.

The present invention relates to a curable isocyanate-free formulation for preparing a polyurethane self-blowing foam comprising at least one multifunctional cyclic carbonate having at least two cyclic carbonate groups at the end of the chain (compound A), at least one multifunctional amine (compound B), at least one multifunctional thiol (compound C) and at least one catalyst (compound D), to a process for preparing said foams, to the thus obtained foams and the recycling of said foams.

A composition comprising thermoset polymer, shape memory polymer to facilitate macro scale damage closure, and methods for molecular scale healing are provided. The composition can resolve structural defects by a bio-mimetic close-then heal process. In use, the shape memory polymer can provide molecular scale healing in a structural defect. The methods for molecular scale healing can include heating a composition including a thermoplastic such as fibers, particles or spheres to a level at or above the thermoplastic's melting point, then cooling of the composition below the melting temperature of the thermoplastic. The compositions have the ability to close macroscopic defects repeatedly even if another wound/damage occurs in a previously healed/repaired area.

The invention relates to flame-retardant polyurethane foam materials or polyurethane/polyisocyanurate foam materials (also referred to individually or collectively as “PUR/PIR foam materials” below) and to methods for producing PUR/PIR foam materials by reacting a reaction mixture containing A1 an isocyanate-reactive component, A2 a propellant, A3 a catalyst, A4 optionally an additive, and A5 a flame retardant with B an isocyanate component, wherein the production is carried out using an index of 80 to 600. The invention is characterized in that the flame retardant A5 contains (hydroxymethyl)phosphonate and optionally the dimer thereof as component A5.1.

A process for producing rigid PUR/PIR foams comprising A1 an isocyanate-reactive component, A2 a flame retardant, A3 a blowing agent, A4 a catalyst, A5 optionally auxiliaries and additives, and B an organic polyisocyanate component. Component A1 comprises a triurethane triol A1.1 and a compound A1.2 selected from the group consisting of polyether polyol, polyester polyol, polyether carbonate polyol, and polyether ester polyol. Also disclosed is a rigid PUR/PIR foam, an insulating material, a composite element, and a mixture.

The present invention provides fire-retarded rigid polyurethane foam comprising the reaction product of polyol and isocyanate foam forming components and a dialkyl phosphorus-containing compound, namely a reactive mono-hydroxyl-functional dialkyl phosphinates, as flame retardant, serving as highly efficient reactive flame retardant in said rigid polyurethane foam.

Described herein is a process for producing a pipe insulated with polyurethane foam, where (a) isocyanates are mixed with (b) polyols, (c) blowing agent including at least one aliphatic, halogenated hydrocarbon compound (c1), made up of from 2 to 5 carbon atoms, at least one hydrogen atom and at least one fluorine and/or chlorine atom, where the compound (c1) includes at least one carbon-carbon double bond, (d) catalyst including N,N-dialkylbenzylamine, optionally (e) chain extenders and/or crosslinkers and optionally (f) auxiliaries and additives to give a reaction mixture, the reaction mixture is applied to a pipe for media and is allowed to cure to give the polyurethane foam. Also described herein is an insulated pipe obtained by such a process and a method of using such an insulated pipe as insulated composite wall pipe for district heating or district cooling networks laid in the ground.

A polyol component P) contains at least three different polyether polyols A) to C). A method produces rigid polyurethane foams using the polyol component P), and the rigid polyurethane foams produced therefrom are useful.

The present invention relates to a selective process for the preparation of NCO-functionalized polyols, to their use in the preparation of silylated polyurethanes, to processes for preparing silylated polyurethanes and to silylated polyurethanes obtainable by a reaction of NCO-functionalized polyol with amino silane and to their use in CASE applications (coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers).

A rigid PU or PU-PIR foam comprising a reaction product of water, a catalyst, a foam-stabilizing surfactant, a polyisocyanate, a blowing agent and a blend comprising: (a) 90 to 99 wt.% of an aromatic polyester polyol having a hydroxyl number within the range of 150 to 400 mg KOH/g; and (b) 1 to 10 wt.% of a fatty acid derivative selected from the group consisting of C.sub.8 to C.sub.18 fatty acid esters and C.sub.8 to C.sub.18 fatty acid amides.