One‐pot synthesis of bio‐polyol from vegetable oil for preparation of bio‐polyurethane based porous sorbent with high oil adsorption capacity

Abstract In the present work, bio‐polyol has been synthesized via controlled hydroxylation from sunflower oil in one conversion step using a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and formic acid. The influences of various reaction conditions for bio‐polyol synthesis such as reaction time, temperature, the dosage of hydrogen peroxide, and formic acid were investigated. The bio‐polyol was obtained from sunflower oil with hydroxyl number of 180 mg KOH/g, and functionality of 3.5 OH groups/mol. The as‐synthesized sunflower oil‐based polyol was then used for replacing fossil‐based polyol in synthesis of bio‐based polyurethane (PU), which was then simultaneously combined with coir biomass filler to fabricate the porous material with high oil adsorption capacity. The oil adsorption capacity of the new bio‐based sorbent material was relatively high, up to 14.89 g/g. In comparison with pristine PU or lignocellulosic materials, the new sorbents had higher oil adsorption capacity.