Sanyo Chemical Industries Ltd., with headquarters in Kyoto City, Japan, has formulated new feedstocks for polyurethane foams. The newly developed materials are used in the production of slow-recovery (memory) foams with improved characteristics.
“We developed SANNIX FA-817C and SANNIX FA-817T as raw materials for soft polyurethane foam with optimized molecular design, to realize a low-resilience mattress that provides good breathability without hardening at low temperatures,” said Akinori Higuchi, Sanyo president, chief executive and representative director.
“The low resilience of foam was previously achieved mainly via methods such as reducing the molecular weight of polyols per functional group (by reducing hydroxyl equivalents) to improve viscosity,” Higuchi said. “However, foams obtained by these methods have low breathability, which was an issue. We successfully improved breathability while maintaining body pressure dispersion, for example, by appropriately combining polyols with an ester group and other materials. Further, we performed an optimal design at the molecular level such that the temperature-dependence of foam hardness is reduced.”
Foams produced with the new polyols are 300% more breathable and 30% less hard at low temperatures, than foams made with the company’s previous products, the company said. The new polyols are being marketed internationally.
Sanyo Chemical was established in 1949 in Kyoto, Japan, as a global manufacturer and seller of performance chemicals. Its portfolio of products is used in a variety of industries, from automotive to electronics to furnishings.
