Polyurethane is a versatile polymeric material, which can be tailored to meet diversified demands of modern technologies, such as coatings, adhesives, reaction molding plastics, fibers, foams, rubbers, thermoplastic elastomers, and composites.
Elastom...
Polyurethane is a versatile polymeric material, which can be tailored to meet diversified demands of modern technologies, such as coatings, adhesives, reaction molding plastics, fibers, foams, rubbers, thermoplastic elastomers, and composites.
Elastomeric polyurethanes are usually prepared from polyol, diisocyanate, and diol or diamine as a crosslinking agent, and they exhibit various properties, depending on the chemical structure and ratios of the compositions. Effects of various factors on properties of polyurethanes have been extensively studied and well known.
4,4'-Methylene bis(o-chloroaniline)(MOCA) has been widely used as a crosslinking agent, but classified as a toxic chemical. Thus, its use will be limited in the near future. However, effects of alternatives of MOCA on properties of polyurethans have not been reported in detail in the literature.
In this research, polyurethane coating films and thermoplastic polyurethanes(TPU) were prepared using 1.3-propanediol bis(p-aminobenzoate)(PDBA) as an alternative to MOCA. Their pot life, thermal stability and mechanical properties were investigated in order to find out an optimum recipe to be utilized easily in the field of polyurethane manufacturing.
The base parts of polyurethane coatings were prepared by melting MOCA or PDBA in polyoxypropylene(Mn=2000), followed by the addition of the various additives. The NCO-terminated toluene diisocyanate prepolymer was used as a curing agent. The polyurethane coating films were prepared by mixing the base part with the curing agent in an appropriate ratio at room temperature. The polyurethane coatings prepared using PDBA exhibited higher initial viscosity, but much longer pot life, compared to those prepared using MOCA under the same conditions, due to lower reactivity of PDBA. The tensile strength and tear strength of the coating films were much weaker. However, the pot life, tensile strength, elongation, and tear strength of the coating films, prepared using PDBA in the presence of an increased amount of catalyst, were close to those of the coating films prepared using MOCA.
The prepolymer of TPU was prepared with poly(tetramethylene ether)glycol, 4,4'-methylene bis(phenyl isocyanate) (MDI) and 1,4-butanediol. TPU was prepared by mixing prepolymer with the crosslinking agent, MOCA, PDBA, in different ratios. The experimental results of TGA and DSC of TPUs prepared using PDBA were very close to those of TPUs prepared using MOCA. The elongation of TPU prepared using PDBA was silimar to that of TPU prepared using MOCA, but the tensile strength of TPU prepared from PDBA was greater than that of TPU prepared from MOCA.
Thus, it can be concluded that PDBA, which is environmentally much more friendly, can substitute toxic MOCA in the preparation of polyurethane coatings and TPUs as long as the reactivity of PDBA is enhanced using appropriate amounts of catalyst or appropriate feed ratios of components are used.