Thermo-mechanical property enhancement of rigid polyurethane foam using silica and alumina as hybrid fillers over single filler

Silica and alumina particles were loaded in the rigid polyurethane foam composite as hybrid fillers. After the successful addition of silica and alumina as fillers, various properties of the foam composite were enhanced up to a particular weight percentage (7.5 wt% of silica and alumina each) with respect to alumina loaded foams. Hard urea domains are well distributed in the urethane matrix which indicates the absence of the peak representing H-bonded urea in the Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy results. The addition of hybrid fillers into the rigid polyurethane foam matrix improved the compressive strength of the foam composite by 14% in comparison to alumina loaded foams due to the synergistic effect of the hybrid fillers. The foam composite at 7.5 wt% loading of hybrid fillers was successful in decreasing the thermal conductivity by 9% with respect to the thermal conductivity of the unloaded foam. There was a reduction in the gross calorific value up to 7% in the hybrid filler loaded foam composite when compared with that of the alumina loaded composite. Hence, hybrid fillers should be added to enhance the composite's properties by a greater extent.