Preparation and characterization of water‐absorbing polyurethane foam composites with microsized sodium polyacrylate particles

ABSTRACT This article introduces the preparation of rigid polyurethane foam (PUF) and studies the effect of various mass percentages of sodium polyacrylate (PAAS, microsized) on PUF hydrophilicity. The characterization of PUF (with 0–5.5 wt % PAAS) was conducted via scanning electron microscopy, contact angle analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, and pore size distribution. All modified foams showed an improvement in their water sorption and water maintenance capacities, and the PU foam content of 5.5 wt % PAAS showed a water absorption of 891%, and the water retention performance was 408% (96 h) compared to the pure PU foam. Through contact angle measurements, the relationship between the hydrophilicity of the modified foams and PAAS content was investigated. The compression strength of the samples was also tested. When the PAAS is 2.6 wt %, the compression strength of the composites decreased about 50% compared with the pure PU foam. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018 , 135 , 46702.