Recycling of Polyurethane Foams

Professor Sabu Thomas is currently an Emeritus Professor of Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala, India. He was the former Vice Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University. He is a Senior Professor of Christ University, Bangalore, India. He is also a visiting Professor at the Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa, Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand, and an Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Polymer and Process Engineering, IIT Roorkee, India. He is the Chairman of the TrEST Research Park, Trivandrum, Kerala, India. The H index of Professor Thomas is 163 and he has more than 133,000 citationsAjay Vasudeo Rane (Dr.) is currently a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Durban University of Technology. His areas of research include structural, mechanical, and morphological properties of materials (specially polymer composite materials). Dr. Ajay Vasudeo Rane is a member of the Royal Society of South Africa, the South African Institution of Mechanical Engineering, affiliate member of the South African Institution of Chemical Engineers and, a member of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers. He has edited five books and has contributed book chapters and technical manuscripts in peer reviewed journals and presented research works at national and international conferences. Krishnan Kanny (Dr./Prof.) is currently Director and Full Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Durban University of Technology, South Africa. He is also the Director of the Composites Research Group. Professor Kanny holds a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from Tuskegee University, Alabama, USA. Prof Kanny is a registered Professional Technologist (Pr. Tech. Eng) with The Engineering Council of South Africa and holds professional memberships with: the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA), the South African Institute of Mechanical Engineers (SaiMech.E), the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronomics (AIAA) and is an NRF rated scientist category C1. Krishnan Kanny is a professional engineer and scientist with over thirty years’ experience in management, leadership, and human resources development. Additionally, he has over twenty-five years of research experience in manufacturing, robotics, and advanced engineering materials as well as extensive experience in mechanical engineering product, process and system design including development, implementation, and commissioning. Krishnan Kanny’s professional interests include designing, processing, and testing of composite materials systems, reinforced thermosets/ thermoplastics, and nano-infused structures for aerospace, naval and automotive applications. He also has extensive experience on failure analyses including computational and analytical modeling and characterization & Morphological analysis including Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), and Xray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). Abitha V.K. is a Senior Research Fellow at the School of Chemical Sciences, Mahatma Gandhi University, India. Her areas of research include rubber, polymer blends, fibre filled polymer composites, particulate filled polymer composites and their morphological and structural characterization. Dr. Abitha has written several book chapters, and has co-edited three books with Elsevier. Martin George Thomas is a research student at the International and Interuniversity Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Kottayam, Kerala, currently performing research into the areas of epoxy nanocomposites.

"Overall, this book offers a collection of excellent contributions covering all aspects of the life cycle of PU foams, structured in a convincing way with numerous links between the chapters. The result is an essential manual which leads both the experienced reader and the newcomer through an exciting path, unveiling the science and technology of state of the art PU production and recycling processes, shedding new light on the limits of current approaches, advances in research and future opportunities for closing the material cycle." --Detritus

• 1. Introduction to polymers2. Polyurethane foam chemistry 3. Recycling techniques4. Economic and environmental impact of plastic wastes, management of plastic wastes, mechanical recycling, feedstock recycling, sorting and separation of mixed plastics, future trends in plastic waste management5. Degradation vs. Decomposition6. Introduction to chemical depolymerization 7. Chemical depolymerization of polyurethane foam via glycolysis8. Chemical depolymerization of polyurethane foam via hydrolysis9. Chemical depolymerization of polyurethane foam via ammonolysis and aminolysis10. Chemical depolymerization of polyurethane foam via combined chemolysis methods11. Life cycle analysis of polyurethane foam wastes12. Applications of chemically depolymerized polyurethane foam13. Applications of mechanically grounded polyurethane foam