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New insulating material for high temperatures

Holds up in the heat

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Dr. Jacqueline Ku¨an-Bindels and Dr. Wolfgang Friederichs inspect pipe insulation after a heat exposure test.

Polyurethane is currently used as an insulating material thanks to its outstanding insulating properties. There is only one limitation, however: at temperatures exceeding 150 degrees Celsius, the polyurethane foams currently used quickly become brittle and lose their shape, causing the insulating effect to deteriorate. Chemists from Bayer MaterialScience have now solved this problem. The new generation of rigid polyurethane foams remains dimensionally stable at temperatures of up to 200 degrees Celsius.

It all depends on the right mixture

The new rigid foam not only remains dimensionally stable even at high temperatures, it is also flame resistant. Its development depended above all on the right mixture of its two components, isocyanate and polyol – as well as on selecting the most suitable polyol. The new foam can also be used in road tankers and solar collectors, for example. Details on the new foams are contained in the following article.