Polyether polyol production of a flexible urethane foam and shaped article therefrom

Abstract

A polyether polyol produced by using an N-amino-ethylpiperazine-ethylene oxide aduct as an initiator and addition-polymerizing an alkylene oxide thereto and having a molecular weight of about 2000 to 7000; a process for producing a flexible urethane foam starting with the above polyether polyol; a process suited for the production of a hot-cure urethane foam which comprises using the above polyether polyol with a hydroxyl value of 40 to 80 mg KOH/g and, as a blowing agent, 4.6 to 6.0 weight parts of water based on 100 weight parts of the polyol; and a process suited for the production of a cold-cure urethane foam which comprises using the above polyether polyol with a hydroxyl value of 23 to 50 mg KOH/g and, as a blowing agent, 2.5 to 5.0 weight parts of water on the same basis. The use of the polyether polyol enables the production of a low-density, low-hardness flexible urethane foam using a small amount of water, without requiring any environment-unfriendly chlorofluorocarbon and without being accompanied by deterioration of humid age compression set and other characteristics.

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