Property modification of rigid polyurethane foam by end-of-life polyvinyl chloride foam particles

End-of-life (EoL) rigid crosslinked polyvinyl chloride (PVC) foams are subjected to hazardous procedure of incineration or landfilling for waste management. This work aims to valorize PVC waste for the property variation of rigid polyurethane (PU) foam. PVC waste was sieved to obtain different sized particles and were mixed homogenously in polyol/isocyanate mixture. The geometrical density of modified foams increased with the progressive addition of the PVC particles, the effect of which was more pronounced with 300 μm PVC particles. Morphological analysis of these foams revealed a reduction in cell size and an increase in the open porosity of the PU cell structure. Moreover, PU foams loaded with PVC particles did not manifest a severe reduction of the former's insulating property. The effect of damping in PU foams was also verified by resonance tests where a size effect was observed, increasing the damping ratio and thus enhancing the usefulness of such insulating structures.