Polyurethane foams play a part in our every day lives, whether directly or indirectly. Foams play a vital part in insulation, and keep our refrigerators cold, our hot water heaters hot, and our buildings cool. Foams also play a major part in keeping us comfortable, whether that be the soft cushions covering our seats and chairs, to the outer and inner shoe soles we use in our footwear.
Foams are naturally full of bubbles, and most of these bubbles are formed when the ISOCYANATE reacts with the POLYOL. Inside the polyol are materials called “BLOWING AGENTS” which cause the foam to expand through bubble formation.
Era Polymers has three main foam categories, organised into the types of blowing agents used in the formulas:
1. GREENLINK – these foams are based on ordinary water to act as the blowing agent
2. ERATHANE – more traditional foams based on HCFC blowing agents, such as 141b. These are being slowly phased out for environmental reasons.
3. ECOFOAM – new generation of foams, based on the safer HFC blowing agents, which have no ozone depleting potential (Zero ODP).
Within each above category, we have many different foam formulations. Each formulation is supplied as two components, ISO and POLYOL, intended for reaction together.