This paper presents an enhanced gas chromatography–mass spectrometry method for the separation of cell gases in polyurethane foam. The novel method was then tested on several polyurethane foams produced at different mixing times, showing successful results. The measurement of gas content in polyurethane foams has been rarely considered in published literature. This parameter, indeed, plays a critical role in the deterioration of polyurethane foam thermal conductivity. This is because of the diffusion of gases which is the main mechanism of foam aging. Hence, an improved gas chromatography–mass spectrometry method was developed to offer simultaneous separation of several types of gas in only one column, using gas chromatography as its main concept. The composition of a sample gas consisting of N2, O2, CO2, and C5H10 was accurately calculated by measuring the ratio of each peak area on the chromatograms, with argon being used for sampling. This fast and simple method was found to be useful, on one hand for the accurate determination of C5H10 and CO2 cell gases used as blowing agents, and on the other hand for N2 and O2 air gases that diffuse rapidly from the surrounding environment into foam cells. The effect of mixing time on foam kinetics, cellular structure, foam thermal conductivity, and the overall thermal conductivity of cell gas mixture was also investigated. By complex analysis of foam density, the presence of open cells, cell size, and thermal conductivity of cell gas mixture, the lowest measured value of foam thermal conductivity was explained. The major goal of these experiments was to show the importance of foam cell gas analysis, together with foam structure, which is uniquely done to contribute to the understanding of polyurethane foam thermal conductivity. The thermal conductivity of cell gas mixture is considered as an example of the potential applications of this novel gas chromatography–mass spectrometry method.

中文翻译：

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快速气相色谱-质谱法检测聚氨酯泡沫的气相组成及其对泡沫热导率的影响

本文介绍了一种用于分离聚氨酯泡沫中细胞气体的增强型气相色谱-质谱法。然后在不同混合时间生产的几种聚氨酯泡沫上测试了这种新方法，结果显示成功。在已发表的文献中很少考虑测量聚氨酯泡沫中的气体含量。该参数确实在聚氨酯泡沫导热性的劣化中起关键作用。这是因为气体的扩散是泡沫老化的主要机制。因此，开发了一种改进的气相色谱 - 质谱方法，以气相色谱为主要概念，仅在一个色谱柱中同时分离多种类型的气体。由 N2、O2、CO2、C5H10 是通过测量色谱图上每个峰面积的比率来准确计算的，使用氩气取样。发现这种快速而简单的方法非常有用，一方面可用于准确测定用作发泡剂的 C5H10 和 CO2 细胞气体，另一方面可用于从周围环境迅速扩散到泡沫细胞中的 N2 和 O2 空气气体. 还研究了混合时间对泡沫动力学、多孔结构、泡沫热导率和单元气体混合物整体热导率的影响。通过对泡沫密度、开孔的存在、泡孔尺寸和泡孔气体混合物的热导率的复杂分析，解释了泡沫热导率的最低测量值。这些实验的主要目标是展示泡沫细胞气体分析的重要性，连同泡沫结构，这是独一无二的，有助于理解聚氨酯泡沫的导热性。电池气体混合物的热导率被认为是这种新型气相色谱-质谱法潜在应用的一个例子。