Crystallization and melting behavior of the soft and hard segments in poly(ester-ether)s. II. Ethylene oxide-butylene terephthalate segmented copolymers

The crystallization behavior of a series of ethylene oxide-butylene terephthalate (EOBT) segmented copolymers with different soft segment molecular weight and hard segment weight content were examined by differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and polarized microscope. Combined with the comparison with the crystallization behavior of ethylene oxide-ethylene terephthalate (EOET) segmented copolymers, it can be concluded that the crystallizability of both the soft segments and the hard segments in poly(ester-ether) segmented copolymers is much worse than those of the corresponding homopolymers due to the interactions between the soft and the hard segments. The crystallizability of the soft segments is mainly determined by the soft segment molecular weight, but is weakened by the hard segments. On the other hand, the soft segments have complicated influences on the crystallization of the hard segments. The melting temperatures of the hard segments change monotonically with the average hard segment length, but the corresponding melting enthalpies will reach a maximum at an intermediate soft segment molecular weight. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 37: 2928–2940, 1999     

Synthesis and characterization of poly(dimethylsiloxane‐urethane) elastomers: Effect of hard segments of polyurethane on morphological and mechanical properties

A series of poly(dimethylsiloxane‐urethane) elastomers based on hexamethylenediisocyanate, toluenediisocyanate, or 4,4′‐methylenediphenyldiisocyanate hard segment and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) soft segment were synthesized. In this study, a new type of soft‐segmented PDMS crosslinker was synthesized by hydrosilylation reaction of 2‐allyloxyethanol with polyhydromethylsiloxane, using Karstedt's catalyst. The synthesized soft‐segmented crosslinker was characterized by FT‐IR, ¹H, and ¹³C NMR spectroscopic techniques. The mechanical and thermal properties of elastomers were characterized using tensile testing, thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and dynamical mechanical analysis measurements. The molecular structure of poly(dimethylsiloxane‐urethane) membranes was characterized by ATR‐FTIR spectroscopic techniques. Infrared spectra indicated the formation of urethane/urea aggregates and hydrogen bonding between the hard and soft domains. Better mechanical and thermal properties of the elastomers were observed. The restriction of chain mobility has been shown by the formation of hydrogen bonding in the soft and hard segment domains, resulting in the increase in the glass‐transition temperature of soft segments. DSC analysis indicates the phase separation of the hard and soft domains. The storage modulus (E′) of the elastomers was increasing with increase in the number of urethane connections between the hard and soft segments. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 2980–2989, 2006     

Rheological characterization and microphase‐separated structure of a poly(ether‐block‐amide) segmented block copolymer

Melt of a segmented block copolymer having poly(lauryl lactam) as the hard segment and poly(tetramethylene oxide) as the soft segment was investigated by rheological techniques. Storage modulus of the polymer melt exhibits the nonterminal behavior resembling those of diblock and triblock copolymer melts, indicating the existence of a microphase‐separated structure. Contrary to block copolymers, the melt of the segmented block copolymer changes from a weak structure to a stiff one upon raising temperature. The storage modulus of the weak structure at low temperatures is inert to large‐amplitude oscillatory shear, while the oscillatory shear destroys the stiff structure at high temperatures and reduces its storage modulus to a value that is same as that of the weak structure. The tapping‐mode data of atomic force microscopy reveal that at low temperatures the polymer melt exhibits a biphasic structure consisted of small spherical soft domains dispersed in a slightly harder matrix; and at high temperatures the spherical domain structure preserves, though the domain coarsens and the hardness difference between the domain and the matrix enlarges. Infrared spectrum analysis shows that the temperature‐induced structural change is related to the dissociation of hydrogen bonding between the hard and soft segments. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 43: 2557–2567, 2005     

Pi‐conjugated chain extenders for the synthesis of optoelectronic segmented polyurethanes

The optical properties of mechanochromic materials change under mechanical stress. Segmented polyurethanes are elastomers composed of amorphous, saturated chain soft segments, and rigid pi‐conjugated hard domains. Within aggregates of hard domains pi–pi interactions may form and result in perturbation of the optoelectronic properties of the system. Disruption and restoration of these electronic interactions within the material may lead to observable mechanochromic response. A series of oligothiophene diols and diamines, as well as a naphthalene diimide diol, have been synthesized for incorporation into the hard domains of segmented polyurethanes and polyureas using long poly(tetramethylene oxide) chains as soft segments. The resulting polymers were evaluated to determine their extent of polymerization and their thermal stability. The optical properties of the materials were studied in solution and as thin films. Where possible the electrochemical properties of the polymers were also explored. The length of the soft segment chains in the segmented polyurethanes hindered electronic coupling of hard domains. Future work involving smaller, more solubilizing soft segments may allow for easier material characterization and mechanochromic response. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011.     

Synthesis and characterization of novel h‐HTBN/PEG PU copolymers for tissue engineering: degradation,phase behavior,and mechanical properties

The phase behavior of the as‐prepared polyether polyurethane (PU) elastomers was investigated by dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), polarized optical microscope (POM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). This PU copolymers were composed of different compositions of two soft segments, poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and hydrolytically modified hydroxyl‐terminated poly(butadiene‐co‐acrylonitrile) (h‐HTBN) oligomers. The microphase separation behavior is confirmed to occur between soft and hard segments as well as soft and soft segments as the h‐HTBN is incorporated into the PU system, depending on soft‐soft and/or soft‐hard microdomain composition, molecular weight (MW) of PEG, and hydrolysis time of HTBN. The driving force for this phase separation is mainly due to the formation of inter‐ and intramolecular hydrogen bonding interaction. The PU‐70, PU‐50 samples with non‐reciprocal composition seem to exhibit larger microphase separation than any other PU ones. The hydrolysis degradation, thermal stability, and mechanical properties of the copolymers were assessed by gravimetry, scanning electron microscope (SEM), thermal gravity analysis (TGA), and tensile test, respectively. The experimental results indicated that the incorporation of h‐HTBN soft segment into PEG as well as low MW of PEG leads to increased thermal and degradable stability based on the intermolecular hydrogen bond interaction. The PU‐70 and PU‐50 copolymers exhibit better mechanical properties such as high flexibility and high ductility because of their larger microphase separation architecture with the hard domains acting as reinforcing fillers and/or physical crosslinking agents dispersed in the soft segment matrix. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Crystallization and melting behavior of the soft and hard segments in poly(ester-ether)s. I. Ethylene oxide-ethylene terephthalate segmented copolymers

The crystallization and melting behavior of a series of ethylene oxide-ethylene terephthalate (EOET) segmented copolymers with different soft segment molecular weight and hard segment weight content were studied by differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and polarized microscope. The crystallizability of both the hard and the soft segments became worse than that of the corresponding homopolymers due to the interactions of the different segments. The crystallizability of the soft segments is mainly determined by the soft segment molecular weight, but is affected greatly by the content and the crystallinity of the hard segments. Conversely, the soft segment length and content also have a great effect on the crystallization of the hard segments. However, the melting points of the hard segments are determined by the average hard segment length. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 37: 2918–2927, 1999     

Theoretical modeling of the relationship between Young's modulus and formulation variables for segmented polyurethanes

We describe a new modeling approach to prediction of Young's modulus of segmented polyurethanes. This approach combines micromechanical models with thermodynamic considerations based on the theory of block copolymers. The resulting model predicts both the equilibrium morphology and the “ideal” Young's modulus of a segmented polyurethane polymer as a function of its formulation (hard segment chemical structure, hard segment weight fraction, soft segment equivalent weight) and temperature. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 2123–2135, 2007     

丁苯、丁腈基聚氨酯的形态与性能

用示差扫描量热法 (DSC)、红外分光光度计 (FTIR)和原子力显微镜 (AFM)研究了端羟基聚丁二烯 苯乙烯共聚物 (HTBS)、端羟基聚丁二烯 丙烯腈共聚物 (HTBN)和端羟基聚丁二烯 (HTPB)与甲苯二异氰酸酯、1 ,4 丁二醇构成的溶液法聚二烯烃基聚氨酯 (PU)的形态结构 .结果表明HTPB和HTBS基PU的相分离程度很大 ,而HTBN基PU的相分离程度小 .这可能归因于HTBS软段的极性低 ,不能与硬段形成氢键 ,而HTBN软段中的腈基具有很强的极性 ,且可以与硬段形成氢键作用 ,增加了软硬段间的相容性 ,相分离程度明显降低 .AFM表明HTBN PU随着硬段含量提高 ,表面粗糙度增大 ,由软段为连续相逐渐过渡到双连续结构 .在硬段含量 6 3%时 ,HTBN和HTPB基PU均呈双连续结构 ,而HTBS PU中硬段为连续相 .HTBN PU软段的相区尺寸在1 2nm左右 ,表面粗糙度较大 ,HPBS PU软段的相区尺寸在 1 1nm左右 ,表面粗糙度最小 ,HTPB PU存在 1 4nm和 5 0nm大小不等的软段相区尺寸 .力学性能表明 ,在软段中引入苯乙烯和丙烯腈结构 ,可使聚氨酯抗张强度分别提高 1 5和 2倍 ,模量和断裂伸长率也明显提高     

Novel synthesis of polyimide–polyhybridsiloxane block copolymers via polyhydrosilylation: Characterization and physical properties

The insertion of soft polysiloxane segments into a polyimide backbone introduces changes in its properties (processability, low surface tension, gas permeability, and lower dielectric constant). Generally, these polyimide–polysiloxane copolymers are synthesized by the condensation of a dianhydride with an aromatic diamine and an amine telechelic polysiloxane, or by transimidization between an aminopyridine‐terminated oligoimide and an amine end‐capped oligosiloxane. This study investigated another route to obtain perfectly alternating polyimide–polyhybridsiloxane (PI–PHSX) block copolymers. The hydrosilylation, widely studied previously, was performed to elaborate copolymers from an allyl telechelic polyimide and a hydrosilane telechelic polyhybridsiloxane. The use of a telechelic polyhybridsiloxane as a soft segment brought better thermostability and better chemical resistance in comparison with an oligosiloxane based on ? Si(CH₃)₂? O? units. Using the same allyl telechelic polyimide moiety but varying the size of the hybrid siloxane part, we obtained different PI–PHSX block copolymers, leading to thermoplastic elastomers (TPE). We investigated the effect of the soft‐segment length on the thermal resistance, activation energy of thermal degradation, mechanical behavior, and surface properties of a series three PI–PHSX block copolymers containing 36, 54, and 75 wt % polyimide. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 39: 2414–2425, 2001     

Semi‐interpenetrating polymer networks based on polyurethane and polymethacrylate functional prepolymers: Morphology and mechanical properties in dependence of the concentration of functional groups

Grafted semi‐interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs) were prepared from polyurethane (PU) prepolymers with polyester soft segments and hard segments containing carboxylic functional groups as well as polymethacrylate (PM) prepolymers with tertiary amine functional groups. The dependence of morphological and mechanical properties on the concentration of functional groups was studied. The enhanced miscibility of PU and PM prepolymers was observed at concentrations of functional groups of 0.25 mmol/g of polymer and above. Despite the improved miscibility, the PM prepolymers showed a tendency toward phase separation. Because the observed glass‐transition temperature shifts of PU prepolymers indicated substantial miscibility, we ascribed this phenomenon to the presence of methyl methacrylate rich sequences in the PM prepolymer. The observed changes in mechanical properties by increasing the content of functional groups were typical for ionomers. Young's modulus increased as a result of physical interactions between functional groups. A significant drop in tensile strength was observed in IPN samples with phase‐separated PU and PM prepolymers. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 40: 115–123, 2002     

Structure and physical properties of segmented polyurethane elastomers containing chemical crosslinks in the hard segment

Two series of segmented polyurethanes, one containing 50% soft segments and the other with 70% soft segments were synthesized. Chemical crosslinks were introduced through the hard segment in a controlled way. Chemical polyurethane networks were characterized by swelling. The effect of the degree of crosslinking on properties was examined. It was found that chemical crosslinks in the hard segment reduce the mobility of the soft phase and destroy the crystallinity of the hard phase, but they improve heat stability of the hard domains. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 36 : 221–235, 1998     

Crystallization behavior and spherulite morphology of hard and soft segments in butylene terephthalate–ϵ‐caprolactone copolyesters

The crystallization behaviors and spherulite morphology of a series of butylene terephthalate–ϵ‐caprolactone (BCL) copolyesters were explored with differential scanning calorimetry, polarized light microscopy, and wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction. The crystallization characteristics reflecting the segmented properties of BCL copolyesters are discussed. For BCL copolyesters with low or high hard‐segment contents, the ϵ‐caprolactone segments or butylene terephthalate segments are long enough to crystallize and even grow spherulites under appropriate conditions, and the crystallizability strengthens with increases in the corresponding segment sequence length. In BCL copolyesters, the crystallization of the soft segments requires a considerably long sequence length, whereas the hard segments even containing only one structural unit can still crystallize and even grow spherulites. The hard segments can grow the usual spherulites at a higher temperature like the poly(butylene terephthalate) homopolymer. The crystallizabilities of hard segments and soft segments for BCL and ethylene terephthalate–ϵ‐caprolactone copolyesters are compared and discussed. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 39: 634–644, 2001     

Structure and properties of segmented poly(urethaneurea)s with relatively short hard‐segment chains

We report the structure and properties of segmented poly(urethaneurea) (SPUU) with relatively short hard‐segment chains. The SPUU samples comprised poly(tetramethylene glycol) prepolymer as a soft segment and 4,4′‐diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI) units as a hard segment that were extended with ethylenediamine. To discuss quantitatively the conformation of the soft‐segment chain in the microphase‐separated domain space, we used SPUU samples for which the molecular weights of the hard‐ and soft‐segment chains are well characterized. The effects of the cohesive force in the hard‐segment chains on the structure and properties of SPUU were also studied with samples of different chain lengths of the hard segment, although the window of x_H, the average number of MDI units in a hard‐segment chain, was narrow (2.38 ≤ x_H ≤ 2.77). There were urethane groups in the soft segments and urea groups in the hard segments. Because of a strong cohesive force between the urea groups, we could control the overall cohesive force in the hard‐segment chains by controlling the chain lengths of the hard segment. First of all, microphase separation was found to be better developed in the samples with longer hard‐segment chains because of an increase of the cohesive force. It was also found that the interfacial thickness became thinner. The long spacing for the one‐dimensionally repeating hard‐ and soft‐segment domains could be well correlated with the molecular characteristics when the assumption of Gaussian conformation was employed for the soft‐segment chains. This is unusual for strongly segregated block copolymers and might be characteristic of multiblock copolymers containing rod–coil chains. The tensile moduli and thermal stability temperature, T_H, increased with an increase of the cohesive force, whereas the glass‐transition temperature, the melting temperature, and the degree of crystallinity of the soft‐segment chains decreased. The increase in T_H especially was appreciable, although the variation in the chain length of the hard segment was not profound. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 38: 1716–1728, 2000     

Synthesis and characterization of polydimethylsiloxane polyurea-urethanes and related zwitterionomers

A series of segmented polyurea urethane and polyurea block copolymers based on a hexane diisocyanate (HDI) modified aminopropyl terminated polydimethylsiloxane soft segment was synthesized. The hard segments consisted of 4,4′-methylene diphenylene diisocyanate (MDI) which was chain extended with 1,4-butanediol (BD), N-methyldiethanolamine (MDEA), or ethylene diamine. Zwitterionomers were prepared by quaternizing the tertiary amine of the MDEA extended material with γ-propane sultone. The effect of chemical structure on the extent of phase separation and physical properties was studied using a variety of techniques including thermal analysis, dynamic mechanical spectroscopy, tensile testing, and small-angle x-ray scattering. It was observed that the compatibility between the nonpolar polydimethylsiloxane soft segments and the polar urethane hard segments was improved by inserting HDI linkages into the polydimethylsiloxane soft segments. The aggregation of hard segments was enhanced by increasing hard-segment content or by the introduction of ionic functionality. The tensile strength and modulus of these materials was higher than those of polyurethanes containing soft segments based on polydimethylsiloxane and its derivatives.     

Synthesis and characterization of polyimide‐polysiloxane segmented copolymers for fuel cell applications

Sulfonated polyimides exhibit high strength, good film‐forming ability, chemical resistance, and, in their hydrated state, relatively high proton conductivity. Here we report the one‐pot synthesis of sulfonated polyimide‐polysiloxane segmented copolymers through the reaction of a dianhydride with a mixture of three diamines: a nonionic aromatic diamine (4,4′‐oxydianiline), a sulfonated diamine (4,4′‐diamino‐2,2′‐biphenyldisulfonic acid), and a telechelic diamino polysiloxane. Copolymer compositions were evaluated using ¹H NMR and size‐exclusion chromatography. The presence of ion‐containing diamines in the reaction mixture inhibited stoichiometric incorporation of hydrophobic siloxane segments. Siloxane segments were found to lower the thermal stability of the polyimide host. Copolymers with and without siloxane segments were cast into free‐standing films. Equilibrium water sorption studies of cast films show that, for the compositions studied here, the presence of siloxane segments does not interfere with water swelling, suggesting that a microphase‐segregated morphology may exist. TEM and SAXS analyses show evidence of phase‐segregation in sulfonated polyimides and reveal that siloxane segments strongly affect ionic clustering. However, proton conductivity only changes slightly when polysiloxane segments are incorporated. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 3747–3758, 2007     

Domain and segmental deformation behavior of thermoplastic elastomers using synchrotron SAXS and FTIR methods

Deformation behavior of the segmented block copolymers was studied with synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) methods. Polyurethanes used in this work consist of 4,4′-methylene-bis(phenyl isocyanate) and butanediol as a hard segment, and poly(tetramethylene oxide) of various molecular weights as a soft segment. As expected, the deformation of the domain structure that is macroscopically isotropic before the drawing was anisotropic. Depending on the initial orientation of the hard domains, the deformation behavior was observed to be characteristically different. Whereas the hard domains oriented along the deformation direction underwent the extension of the domain separation distance at the low draw ratio, the perpendicular ones showed the shear compression. Further drawing was found to cause the breakup of the hard domains, followed by the formation of fibril structure oriented along the deformation direction. Based on SAXS and FTIR results, a model is proposed to explain the deformation behavior of the various domains and segments of the segmented block copolymers. By quantitatively analyzing the conformation of the soft segment during the deformation process, the model proposed has been consolidated. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 37: 3233–3245, 1999     

Specific essential work of fracture of polyurethane thin films with different molecular structures

A series of polyurethane (PU) thin films with different hard-to-soft segment ratios were synthesized in our laboratory. The molecular and morphological structures of the PU films were characterized with Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), wide-angle x-ray diffraction, dynamic mechanical analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry. The PU films showed a single glass transition when the hard-to-soft segment ratio varied from 1:2 to 1:8, suggesting no significant phase separation between the hard and soft segments. FTIR and SAXS results disclosed that the PU films had a network structure with the physical crosslinks formed via the intermolecular hydrogen bonds established between the hard segments. The fracture toughness of the ductile PU films was characterized with the essential work of fracture method under different conditions. It was found that the specific essential work of fracture was a function of the chain length between crosslinks and independent of the test temperature when fracture occurred at a temperature below the glass transition temperature. The physical meaning of this fracture parameter was proposed. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 1418–1424, 2007     

Synthesis,structural characterization,and properties of polyurethane elastomers containing various degrees of unsaturation in the chain extenders

We prepared polyurethane block copolymers with both 50 and 70% soft segment concentrations, using 4,4′‐diphenylmethane diisocyanate–poly(propylene glycol) prepolymer and 1,4‐butanediol, cis‐2‐butene‐1,4‐diol, and 2‐butyne‐1,4‐diol as chain extenders. The effects of the different chain extenders were observed during synthesis and in the final products. A comparison of spectroscopic, mechanical, and thermal data reveals that polymer properties can be significantly altered by differences in chemical bonding within the chain extender backbone. Although all data support the expected differences in phase morphology between the two series of samples, they also suggest that increasing chain extender unsaturation reduced reactivity with isocyanate, adversely affected hydrogen bonding, lowered the degree of crystallinity of the hard segments, and decreased phase separation. The tensile strength, elongation, modulus, and elastic recovery decreased and the electrical conductivity of iodine‐doped samples increased with increasing chain extender unsaturation. The thermal stability of the urethane group was also lower in samples with increased unsaturation. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 40: 1316–1333, 2002     

不同软段结构聚氨酯-酰亚胺嵌段共聚物的合成及热性能研究

用二步法合成了不同软段 (PPO ,PEG ,PEPA)聚氨酯 酰亚胺 (PUI)嵌段共聚物 ,FTIR光谱表征了所有合成PUI分子主链均含有酰亚胺链段 ,并研究了PUI嵌段共聚物的热性能受软段类型及长度的影响 .DSC研究表明聚酯型PUI的软硬段之间的相容性比聚醚型PUI好 ,随相同软段分子量的增加 ,PUI体系的软硬段兼容性变差 ,并显示了相分离的特征 ;热失重 (TGA)研究得出不同软段的PUI样品的热稳定性大小顺序为 :PEPA PUI >PEG PUI>PPO PUI ;动态力学 (DMTA)研究给出了所合成的PUI样品在 5 0～ 2 0 0℃范围内均出现了较长的模量平台显示出有较好的耐热性 ,且随硬段含量的升高其储能模量不断增强     

Segmented block copolymers of poly(ethylene glycol) and poly(ethylene terephthalate)

A new series of segmented copolymers were synthesized from poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) oligomers and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) by a two‐step solution polymerization reaction. PET oligomers were obtained by glycolysis depolymerization. Structural features were defined by infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The copolymer composition was calculated via ¹H NMR spectroscopy. The content of soft PEG segments was higher than that of hard PET segments. A single glass‐transition temperature was detected for all the synthesized segmented copolymers. This observation was found to be independent of the initial PET‐to‐PEG molar ratio. The molar masses of the copolymers were determined by gel permeation chromatography (GPC). © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 4448–4457, 2004