Journal of Basic Physical Research. Vol. 1, No. 1, pp 5-8, November, 2010 Available online at www.jbasicphyres-unizik.

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THE EFFECT OF ANIMAL WASTE (GOAT FEMUR) AS FILLER IN FLEXIBLE POLYETHER FOAM
T.U. Onuegbu*, N. Obianuko, G.U. Mbachu. and I.M. Iloamaeke Department of Pure and Industrial Chemistry, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka (Accepted 12, October, 2010) ABSTRACT
The aim of this work is to investigate the effect of animal waste (goat femur) as filler in flexible polyether foam. The bone was ground into particle size of 63m and varying loads of it ranging from 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25% were incorporated into the foam recipes during production. The physico-mechanical properties of the foam samples produced were analyzed and the results obtained were compared with 10% CaCO3 filled foam which serves as a control. Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) analyses of the bone showed the decreasing order of concentration of metallic ions as Ca2+ >Fe2+>Zn2+>Cu2+ while Pb2+ was absent. The study indicates that 10% of the foam sample filled with goat femur compared favourably with the standard, while 15% filler gave foam sample with the best quality.

KEYWORDS: Bone, Filler, Flexible foam INTRODUCTION Filler as used in plastic and rubber industries is a finely divided solid material which is added to the liquid, semi liquid or solid composition to modify the physical properties of the composite and to reduce cost [1]. The effect of fillers on the properties of the foam depends on the factors such as surface area, porosity, bulkiness and surface chemistry. The use of filler to modify properties of composition can be traced at least as far back as in the middle of the 19th century in Roman era when artisans used ground marble, calcium carbonate (CaCO3) in lime plaster, frescoes and pozzolanic mortar, paper and paper coating [2]. Functional fillers were developed on a commercial scale in the early 20th century when carbon black was added to rubber and phenol-formaldehyde plastics were formulated with wood floor. Fillers can be organic such as wood floor, paper pulp, carbon black etc or inorganic which includes asbestos, powdered mica, talc and lead oxide [3]. Fillers capable of enhancing strength properties of a polymer are said to be reinforcing [4]. Flexible polyurethane foam is a product of polymerization of polyol, toluene diisocyanate, water, dimethylethanolamine, methylene chloride, silicone and stannous octoate and can be classified into three based on density [5]: low density; medium density; high density. Foaming is achieved by the addition of blowing agents, carbon dioxide gas produced as an in situ blowing agent by the reaction between the isocyanate and water can be used for blowing foams [6]. The catalysts are organometallic compounds and the commonest one is stannous octoate. The absence of surfactant causes foam collapse [7], silicone surfactants lowers surface tension, emulsifies incompatible formulated ingredients, promotes generation of bubbles during mixing and stabilizes cell window. Bone consists of calcium phosphates and large amounts of carbonate but citrate and fluoride amines are also present. There are different applications of bone, namely; phosphate content of bone is used as artificial manure, fat content is used in making soap and candle, animal charcoal, bone oil and pitch obtained from distillation of bone are used as a filtering and clarifying materials, the bone pitch obtained is used in the manufacture of black varnishes and also it is used in making buttons, knife handle. This work studies the effect of animal waste (goat femur) as filler in flexible polyether foam.

Corresponding Author: * onuzotesi@yahoo.com

Onuegbu, Obianuko, Mbachu and Iloamaeke

ANALYTICAL METHODS The raw materials used were obtained from Winco Foam LTD, Awka, Anambra State while the goat femur was sourced from Ogbete Market, Enugu, Enugu State. Bone sample was dried to a constant weight at 107oC for 24hours in an electric oven. It was crushed with mortar and milled with electric milling machine to pass through 63m Gilson Automatic Sieve Tester, SS-15. The polyol, toluene diisocyanate and filler were accurately weighed into separate beakers using electronic weighing balance model B 218. Other raw materials required in small quantities were measured with syringes. The measurement of raw materials was based on part per hundred of polyol [8]. The mixing of the raw materials was as described in a number of articles [5,8]. The formulations of various foam samples are shown in Table 1. The mixture was then poured into mould made of kraft sheet lined with silicone paper. The foam samples were allowed to solidify for 10 minutes, removed and kept at temperature of 25oC for 72hrs before testing. Metallic ion content was determined using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS), Buck Scientific AAS-205 Model, Air acetylene flame type at a flame temperature 1727oC and flame height of 6mm.The determination was carried out by digesting 2g of the chicken bone with 3:1 HCl and HNO3 aqua regia for 20 minutes. The solution was diluted to 250cm3 with deionized water and then analyzed. The following parameters were determined on the foam samples produced: rising time, creaming time, loss in mass, density, compression set, compressive strength, tensile strength, elongation at break, flammability and porosity index[9,10]. Table 1: Formulation of Foam Samples Raw material Pph GFF0(g) GFF1(g) GFF2(g) Polyol 100 200 200 200 TDI index=108 54.4 108.8 108.8 108.8 Water 4 8 8 8 DMEA 0.13 0.26 0.26 0.26 Stannous 0.24 0.8 0.8 0.8 octoate Silicone 0.8 1.6 1.6 1.6 Mthylene 4.5 9.0 9.0 9.0 chloride Filler Varied 0 25 50 CaCO3 10%(5 0g) Note: GFF=goat femur filler Pph =part per hundred

GFF3(g) 200 108.8 8 0.26 0.8 1.6 9.0 75 -

GFF4(g) 200 108.8 8 0.26 0.8 1.6 9.0 100 -

GFF5(g) 200 108.8 8 0.26 0.8 1.6 9.0 125 -

Journal of Basic Physical Research Vol. 1, No.1

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The results of AAS analyses of the filler sample are shown on Table 2. The increasing order of the metallic ion concentration shows calcium has the highest concentration followed by iron, while copper is least in concentration (Cu2+<Zn2+<Fe2+<Ca2+). The high concentration of Ca2+ in the filler sample makes the properties comparable to the CaCO3 used in the industry at present. The absent of Pb2+ is also an advantage since the filler sample is environmentally friendly for use in the industries. The results of the physico-mechanical properties of the foam produced are shown in Table 3.

Table 2: Metal ion Concentrations of the filler Cation Cu2+ Zn2+ Ca2+ Pb2+ Fe2+ Concentrati on in mg/kg 0.018 0.070 27.900 Nil 10.150

Table 3: The results of the physico-mechanical properties of the foam samples Parameter Creaming time (s) Rising time(s) Percentage loss in mass (%) Density kg/m3 Compression Set (%) Compressive strength N/mm2 Flammability (sec) Tensile strength N/cm2 Elongation at-break (%) Porosity index GFF0 9 48 20.00 19.1 6.36 0.026 28 5.13 90 3.28 GFF1 8 45 16.17 18.2 4.45 0.029 18 10.56 140 3.76 GFF2 8 42 20.03 17.5 10.03 0.05 27 7.2 88 3.61 GFF3 10 38 21.38 20.00 3.64 0.019 19 7.0 89 3.07 GFF4 12 35 20.47 17.00 9.09 0.01 26 6.75 76 6.48 GFF5 13 34 18.33 17.50 5.45 0.016 26.5 5.38 74 2.50

From the results in Table 3, it is evident that the creaming time increases as the filler load increases but the rising time decreases as the filler load increases. The percentage loss in mass rises with filler loads and starts to fall at 20% filler load. The densities of the filled foams vary with filler load and the 15% filled foam sample is comparable to the density of the 10% CaCO3 filled foam. Compression set varies irregularly with increase in filler load while 10% filler load has the value that is closed to that of 10% CaCO3 filled foam. The result revealed that the compression strength of 10% filled foam is highest. This implies that in terms of load bearing capacity, the 10% filler load has better performance than the prevailing industrial standard of 10% CaCO3 filled foam. The flammability test indicates that the time taken for a given sample of foam to burn increases with increasing quantity of the filler. This is in accordance with anticipated results as fillers are known to act as fire retardants in foam production. Only the flammability of 15% that is quite low compared with anticipated results. The 10% filled foam takes almost exactly the same time to burn as the 10% CaCO3 filled foam currently used in the industries. Porosity index is a measure of the closeness of the foam cells. It is not yet clearly established if the filler particles form bonds with the foam cells. There is a variation in water retention measured by the porosity index with increasing filler load. The water retention of 20% filler is quite higher compared with the retention of the rest of the samples. However, with the closeness of the range of the water retention capacity for the sample it could be concluded that the filler load does not affect the water retention capacity of the foam.

Onuegbu, Obianuko, Mbachu and Iloamaeke

Again, the results of the tensile strength indicate that the tensile strength reduces as the filler load increases. The tensile strength of 10% test filler is higher than the tensile strength of 10% CaCO3 as shown in Table 3. This implies that the load bearing capacity of the foam is higher for the test filler than that of 10% CaCO3 filled foam. The elongation at break decreases with increasing filler load of the foam samples, the value of elongation at break for the 10% filled foam is almost the same as that of 10% CaCO3 filled foam. CONCLUSION In conclusion, 63m particle size of goat femur powder can be used as filler in flexible polyether foam. The chemical composition of the filler indicated the presence of the following metallic ions tested in increasing order of concentrations Cu2+ < Zn2+ < Fe2+ < Ca2+ while Pb2+ was absence. The results of the physico-mechanical properties showed variations in properties of the foams produced with increasing filler load. The study showed that 10% tested foam sample compared favourably with 10% CaCO3 used in industries, while the 15% tested filler produced foam with better qualities than that of 10% CaCO3 used as standard. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors are grateful to Winco Foam Nig. LTD, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria, where the research was conducted and Standard Organization of Nigeria, where the prepared samples were tested. REFERENCES 1. Richard J. L. (1973). Hawleys Condensed Chemistry Dictionary, Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New York, 1135 pp. 2. Kirk- Othmer Encyclopaedia of Chemical Technology, Filler (1998). Vol. 10, John Wiley and Sons, New York, 939 pp 3. Sharma, B.K. (2006). Industrial Chemistry Including Chemistry of Engineering, Goel Publishing House, Meerut, 1760 pp. 4. Osabohien, E., Anomohanran, O. and Egboh S.H.O. (2007). Thermal Conductivity and Equilibrium Swelling Properties of Natural Rubber Filled with Welders used Carbide Waste, J. Chem. Soc. Nigeria, 32, (2) 234-239. 5. Ajiwe V.I.E., Ulakpa C.M. and Onuegbu T.U. (2005). Additive Effects on Production of Polyurethane Flexible Foams. World Journ. of Biotechnology, 6; 957-967. 6. Matthews P. (2003). Advanced Chemistry (Physical and Industrial) Published by Manas Saiki Chennai, 976 pp. 7. Onuegbu, T.U., Ekejiuba I.O.C., Ekemezie P.N. and Ogbonna C.C. (2009). The Use of Proteinous Material as Filler in Flexible Polyether Foam. J. Chem. Soc. Nig. 34(1), 193-197. 8. Ajiwe, V.I.E., Onuegbu, T.U. and Ozumba, M.C. (2007). Manufacture and Analysis of Copolymerized Rigid Polyurethane Foam Products, J. Sci Engr Tech. 14(1):7298-7310. 9. Nigerian Industrial Standard 53(1979). Method of Measuring tensile Strength and Elongation at break of Flexible Polyurethane Foam, 8 p. 10. Nigerian Industrial Standard 53(1975). Method of Testing Flexible Polyurethane Foam, Indentation Hardness Index, Lagos, 8 p.