Synthesis and properties of poly(ester urethanes) based on cellulose triacetate

Segmented poly(ester urethanes) were synthesized from oligomeric cellulose triacetate diols, poly(caprolactone)diols, and 1,6-hexamethylene diisocyanate. The effects of the molecular mass and structure of soft and hard segments of poly(ester urethanes) on their thermal behavior, mechanical properties, and degradation in aqueous solutions of a phosphate buffer were studied by DSC and IR spectroscopy. The combination of soft segments derived from poly(caprolactone)diols with M = (1.0–3.5) × 10³, hard segments based on depolymerized cellulose triacetate with M = (2–4) × 10³, and 1,6-hexamethylene diisocyanate makes it possible to synthesize poly(ester urethanes) with excellent mechanical characteristics. The degree of crystallinity of these polymers increases with a decrease in the molecular mass of the depolymerized cellulose triacetate block in the hard segment. As the soft segment lengthens, phase separation between domains of soft and hard segments becomes more pronounced. Upon incorporation of poly(ethylene glycol) blocks into the soft segments of poly(ester urethanes), their hydrophobicity is enhanced and biodegradability is accelerated.     

Synthesis and properties of hydrophilic segmented poly(urethanes) based on poly(ethylene glycols) and glycerol monostearate

Poly(urethanes) having the structure of comb-shaped copolymers were synthesized from glycerol monostearate, poly(ethylene glycols) with M _n = 300–6000, and 1,6-hexamethylene diisocyanate. Effects of the molecular mass of segments and of the contents of soft segments and side chains on both the glass transition temperature of the soft segment and on the melting point and the enthalpy of melting of crystalline phases involving soft segments and side chains were studied by DSC and IR spectroscopy. The resulting comb-shaped copolymers were shown to exhibit thermoplastic and hydrophilic behavior. It was demonstrated that the ultimate tensile strength, yield stress, and Young’s modulus of copolymer films increase with an increase in the molecular masses of soft and hard segments with their ratio maintained constant.     

Parameters affecting transition temperatures of poly(lactic acid‐co‐polydiols) copolymer‐based polyester urethanes and their shape memory behavior

A series of polyester urethanes (PEUs) comprising poly(lactic acid‐co‐polydiol) copolymers as a soft segment, 4,4′‐diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI) and 1,4‐butanediol (BDO) as a hard segment were systematically synthesized. Soft segments, which were block copolymers of L ‐lactide (LA) and polydiols such as poly(ethylene glycol) and poly(trimethylene ether glycol), were prepared via ring opening polymerization. Glass transition temperatures (T_g) of the obtained PEUs were found strongly dependent on properties of copolymer soft segments. By simply changing composition ratio, type and molecular weight of polydiols in the soft segment preparation step, T_g of PEU can be varied in the broad range of 0–57°C. The synthesized PEUs exhibited shape memory behavior at their transition temperatures. PEUs with hard segment ratio higher than 65 mole percent showed good shape recovery. These findings suggested that it is important to manipulate molecular structure of the copolymer soft segment for a desirable transition temperature and design optimal soft to hard segment ratio in PEU for good shape recovery. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Calorimetric and Dielectric Study of the Segmented Biodegradable Poly(ester‐urethane)s Based on Bacterial Poly[(R)‐3‐hydroxybutyrate]

Two series of segmented poly(ester‐urethane)s were synthesized from bacterial poly[(R)‐3‐hydroxybutyrate]‐diol (PHB‐diol), as hard segments, and either poly(ε‐caprolactone)‐diol (PCL‐diol) or poly(butylene adipate)‐diol (PBA‐diol), as soft segments, using 1,6‐hexamethylene diisocyanate as a chain extender. The hard‐segment content varied from 0 to 50 wt.‐%. These materials were characterized using ¹H NMR spectroscopy and GPC. The polymers obtained were investigated calorimetrically and dielectrically. DSC showed that the T_g of either the PCL or PBA soft segments are shifted to higher temperatures with increasing PHB hard‐segment content, revealing that either the PCL or PBA are mixed with small amounts of PHB in the amorphous domains. The results also showed that the crystallization of soft or hard segments was physically constrained by the microstructure of the other crystalline phase, which results in a decrease in the degree of crystallinity of either the soft or hard segments upon increase of the other component. The dielectric spectra of poly(ester‐urethane)s, based on PCL and PHB, showed two primary relaxation processes, designated as α_S and α_H, which correspond to glass–rubber transitions of PCL soft and PHB hard segments, respectively. Whereas in the case of other poly(ester‐urethane)s, derived from PBA and PHB, only one relaxation process was observed, which broadens and shifts to higher temperature with increasing PHB hard‐segment content. It was concluded from these results that our investigated materials exhibit micro‐phase separation of the hard and soft segments in the amorphous domains.     

Effect of thermal-oxidative aging on the microstructure of thermoplastic poly(ether-urethane)

Thermodynamic incompatibility between the hard and soft segments in thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPUs) leads to a two-phase microstructure, which is usually demonstrated by the characterizations of fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The effect of thermal-oxidative aging durations (up to 300 days) and temperatures (40, 50, 55, 70°C) on the microstructure of TPUs were investigated by FTIR, DSC, specific surface energy and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) in this work. The TPUs were synthesized by 4,4′-methylenediphenyl diisocyanate and 1,4-butanediol as hard segments and poly(tetramethylene glycol) as soft segments. The result demonstrates that the degree of the phase separation value in virgin TPUs is about 0.332. The specific surface energies of hard and soft segments are 56.9 and 35.7 mJ/cm², respectively. Furthermore, the degree of microphase separation and damping property achieved by the aid of the Gauss method and DMA, respectively, of the TPUs show an obvious decrease during the durations. Moreover, the change of glass transition temperature T _g of the TPUs was also investigated by the DMA. The result indicates that the T _g of the TPUs is almost unchanged with the aging temperatures and durations.     

Segmented polyurethanes with 4,4′-bis-(6-hydroxyhexoxy) biphenyl as chain extender. I. Synthesis and characterization of 2,4-tdi-polyurethanes

Polyurethanes composed of 2,4-toluene diisocyanate (TDI), poly (butylene adipate) diols (PBA) of different molecular weights, and 4,4′-bis-(6-hydroxyhexoxy) biphenyl (BHHBP) were prepared by a two-step solution polymerization process. The polyurethanes were char-acterized by elemental analysis, NMR, and SEC. The thermal properties were investigated by DSC, DMA, and optical polarizing microscopy. Dependent on the molecular weight of the PBA, a shift in the glass transition temperature T_g of the polyurethanes has been observed by DSC and DMA. Polyurethanes based on poly (butylene adipate)s of M_n ～ 2000 exhibited a T_g nearly independent on the hard-segment content up to 50% LC hard segments, indicating the existence of mainly phase separated soft and hard segments. By shortening the PBA chain length up to 1,000 and further to 600, the T_g of the polyester soft-segment phase increases with growing hard-segment content, a consequence of enhanced interaction between the hard and soft segments. This tendency is observed to the greatest extent at polyurethanes with the shortest, polyester diol and can be interpreted as a partial miscibility or compatibility of hard and soft segments. Although in polyurethanes with PBA 2000 the mesophase can be proven at a hard-segment content of ～ 40%, its appearance in polyure-thances prepared with PBA 1000 or PBA 600 requires a hard-segment content > 60%. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Shape memory polyurethanes based on recycled polyvinyl butyral. I. Synthesis and morphology

Shape memory polyurethanes (SMPUs) were synthesized by 4,4′-diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI), hexane-1,6-diol (HD), polypropylene glycol (PPG), and recycled polyvinyl butyral (PVB). Dynamic mechanical analysis, differential scanning calorimetry and Fourier transformation infrared attenuated total reflection spectroscopy was used to characterize the poly (vinylbutyral-urethanes). Micro-phase domain separation of hard and soft segments and phase inversion were investigated. Increasing the hard segment content, i.e., average hard segment molecular weight, leads to an increase in the degree of micro-phase separation, hard domain order and crystallinity. The crystalline hard segment structures combined with the elastic nature of soft segment matrix provide enough physical and chemical crosslinks to have shape memory effect.     

Synthesis of hyperbranched poly(ester urethane isocyanates) and their derivatives

Hyperbranched poly(ester urethanes) containing end isocyanate groups have been synthesized via the reaction of hyperbranched aliphatic polyesterpolydiols of three generations with tolylene diisocyanate. The interaction of these compounds with N,N-dimethylaminoethanol yields their functional derivatives. The polymers are characterized by functional analysis, ¹H NMR and IR spectroscopy, and DSC. It has been demonstrated that the incorporation of urethane moieties leads to development of the microheterogeneous structure of hyperbranched polymers.     

Gas permeability of cupric ion containing HTPB based polyurethane membranes

For the purpose of oxygen enrichment from air, the gas permeability and selectivity of an ionic polyurethane membrane was under investigation. Membranes of ionic polyurethane were prepared by step-growth polymerization of hydroxyl terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) and 4,4′-dicyclohexylmethane diisocyanate (H₁₂MDI). The ionic group was introduced by adding N-methyldiethanolamine (MDEA) as the chain extender of which the tertiary amines were complexed with cupric ions. The effect of hard segment content, polymerization method, peroxide introduction, and the amount of cupric ion on gas permeability were investigated. It was found that the binding of hard segment and the flexibility of soft segments had subtle effects on gas permeability. Membranes of the same composition were synthesized through two different procedures, one- and two-stage polymerization. The former contains large hard segment of cluster aggregation and flexible soft segments had a higher gas permeation rate. When a crosslinker, benzoyl peroxide, was added, the crosslinkage within soft segments hindered cluster formation by hard segment aggregation, the permeability increased. Furthermore, CuCl₂ addition enhanced hard segment aggregation, more hard segments formed cluster aggregates and less dispersed in soft segment region, which also increased permeability. However, excess CuCl₂ addition resulted in CuCl₂ piling up in the soft segment region, which restricted the movement of soft segments and therefore reduced the gas permeability.     

Blends of a siloxane/urea/urethane-segmented copolymer with an IPDI-based polyetherurethane

A series of copolymer blends have been prepared using a poly(ether urethane) and a poly(siloxane–urea–urethane). The copolymers were prepared by a hardsegment first, two-step polymerization method. The hard segments of the copolymers were derived from isophorone diisocyanate (IP) and 1,4-benzenedimethanol (B), and the soft segments were based on polytetrahydrofuran (PTMO, M_w = 2000), and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS, M_w =27,000), respectively. The siloxanecontaining copolymer, PDMS27K-IP-B2 (2 moles diol chain extender/mole PDMS27K), was used as the minor component (1.6, 2.5 and 6.0 wt%) in a series of blends. These blends were found to preserve the mechanical properties of the poly(ether–urethane) as well as the surface properties of the poly(siloxane–urea–urethane).     

Effect of segmented poly(ester-siloxane)urethanes compositional parameters on differential scanning calorimetry and dynamic-mechanical measurements

Segmented poly(ester-siloxane)urethanes containing hard and soft segments were prepared by melt polyaddition using a multistep procedure. The soft segments based on poly(ethylene glycol adipate)diol as ester sequences and α,ω-poly(dimethylsiloxane)diol as silicone sequences were synthesized. The hard segments were based on aromatic or aliphatic diisocyanates and butanediol was used as chain extender. These polyurethane materials were analysed by differential scanning calorimetry and dynamic-mechanical analysis measurements. The shapes of thermal plots are significantly influenced by the soft and hard segment structures and also the compositional parameters.     

Superstructure in segmented polyether–urethanes

The morphology of several series of segmented polyether–urethanes was studied. The “hard” segments contained urethane and urea linkages formed by 4,4′-dicyclohexylmethane diisocyanate (Hylene W) and selected aliphatic and aromatic monomeric diamines (DA). The “soft” segments were composed of oligomeric poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), poly(propylene oxide) (PPO), or both PEO and PPO. For studying the composition–morphology relationships, the molecular weight and relative content of PEO, and the relative content of PPO were varied systematically. Different diamines were used as chain extenders. The methods of wide-angle x-ray diffraction (WAXD), small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS), polarizing microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) were employed in the investigation. The effects of PEO content on domain formation were very significant. Calculations based on a highly simplified model indicated that, for two adjacent molecules, if two hard segments are associated with each other, the probability for the association of the next two hard segments varies inversely with the third power of soft segment length. Copolymers composed of both POE and PPO displayed enhanced domain and anisotropic superstructure. The phenomenon was interpreted in terms of polymer incompatibility. The effects on morphology of different DA's as chain extenders were tentatively accounted for by the symmetry, hydrogen bonding, and rigidity of the hard segments as well as their incompatibility with the soft segments. The formation and deformation of superstructure were of particular interest. A model was proposed to account for the formation of the resultant anisotropic structure and mechanical properties.     

The gas transport properties of amine-containing polyurethane and poly(urethane-urea) membranes

A series of amine-containing polyurethanes and poly(urethane-urea)s based on 4,4′-diphenylmethane diisocyanate and either poly(ethylene glycol) of molecular weights 400 or 600 were prepared as gas separation membranes. The amine functional groups of N-methyldiethanolamine (MDEA) and/or tetraethylenepentamine (TEPA) were introduced into the hard segment as a chain extender. The gas transport data of He, H₂, O₂, N₂, CH₄ and CO₂ in these polymer membranes were determined by using the Barrer's high-vacuum technique and the time-lag method. The restriction of chain mobility has been shown by the formation of hydrogen bonding in the soft segment and hard-segment domains, resulting in the increase in the density, glass transition temperature of soft segments (T_gs). The separation mechanism of various gas pairs used in industrial processes is also discussed. Effect of pressure on permeability of the gases above and below T_gs was studied. It was found that the gas permeability increased or decreased with upstream pressure above T_gs, and should be described by a modified free-volume model. On the other hand, the condensable CO₂ exhibits a minimum permeability at a certain upstream pressure below T_gs. The permeability of He and H₂ were pressure independent above and below the T_gs.     

Characterization of Novel Biodegradable Segmented Polyurethanes Prepared from Amino-Acid Based Diisocyanate

Segmented polyurethanes (SPUs) which were expected to yield non-toxic degradation products were synthesized from lysine-based diisocyanate (LDI), 1,3-propanediol (PDO), and polycaprolactone diol (PCL). SPUs were synthesized via a standard two-step prepolymer method. The hard segment fraction was changed in order to tune the mechanical properties and the degradability. The aggregation structures of the SPUs were characterized by infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), temperature dependence of dynamic viscoelasticity, and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). DSC and dynamic viscoelastic measurements revealed that the glass transition temperature (T_g) of the soft segment increased with an increase in the hard segment fraction. SAXS of SPUs revealed the aggregation states of hard and soft segments. Furthermore, the degradation of SPUs was investigated by exposing the polymers to a buffer solution at 310 K (pH=7.6). The degradation rate of SPUs increased with an increase in the soft segment fraction. This is because the soft segment has the hydrolyzable ester linkages and the ester linkages are susceptible to hydrolysis compared with the urethane linkages. Finally, an electrospray deposition method was used to fabricate biodegradable SPU micro-fibers. FE-SEM images showed that higher concentration of solution favored the formation of uniform biodegradable micro-fibers without beads-like structure.     

Block copolyesters of poly(pentamethylene p,p′‐bibenzoate) and poly(tetramethylene adipate)

Hydroxy‐terminated poly(pentamethylene p,p′‐bibenzoate) oligomers with different molecular weights were prepared. The poly(pentamethylene p,p′‐bibenzoate) oligomers showed rather high crystallinity, and some of them exhibited a monotropic smectic phase. Block copolyesters with hard segments of poly(pentamethylene p,p′‐bibenzoate) and soft segments of poly(tetramethylene adipate) were prepared by coupling the poly(pentamethylene p,p′‐bibenzoate) oligomer and a poly(tetramethylene adipate)glycol with methylene‐4,4′‐diphenylene diisocyanate in solution. The block copolyesters were characterized by IR, ¹H NMR, differential scanning calorimetry, a polarized microscope, and X‐ray diffraction. The thermal transitions of the block copolyesters were dependent on the composition and the molecular weight of the poly(pentamethylene p,p′‐bibenzoate) oligomer used. The hard segments in the block copolyesters showed no liquid crystallinity and exhibited rather low crystallinity or were even amorphous. The molecular weight of the poly(pentamethylene p,p′‐bibenzoate) oligomer used influences the glass‐transition temperature and crystalline properties of the soft segments in the block copolyesters significantly. The effect on the glass‐transition temperature of the soft segments is described as the difference in miscibility between the hard and soft segments. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 2626–2636, 2002     

Segmented polyurethanes with 4,4′-bis-(6-hydroxyhexoxy)biphenyl as chain extender. Part 2. Synthesis and properties of MDI-polyurethanes in comparison with 2,4-TDI-polyurethanes

Linear segmented polyurethanes based on poly(butylene adipate)s (PBA) of different molecular weight (M_n 2000, 1000, and 600), 4,4′-diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI) and the mesogenic diol 4,4′-bis-(6-hydroxyhexoxy)biphenyl (BHHBP) as well as the unsegmented polyurethane consisting of MDI/BHHBP units have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, ¹³C-NMR and SEC. The thermal behavior and the morphology were studied by DSC, polarizing microscopy, and DMA. The properties of the MDI-polyurethanes were discussed in relation to the BHHBP chain extended 2,4-TDI-polyurethanes and common 1,4-butanediol chain-extended MDI products. MDI polyurethanes based on PBA (M_n 2000) exhibit a glass transition temperature T_g of about −40°C independent of the hard segment content up to ∼50% hard segments. At higher hard segment contents increasing T_gs were observed. Polyurethanes, based on the shorter polyester soft segments PBA (M_n 1000 or 600), reveal an increase in the glass transition temperatures with growing hard segment content. The thermal transitions caused by melting of the MDI/BHHBP hard segment domains are found at 50 K higher temperatures in comparison with the analogous TDI products with mesogenic BHHBP/TDI hard segments. Shortening of the PBA chain length causes a shift of the thermal transitions to lower temperatures. Polarizing microscopy experiments indicate that liquid crystalline behavior is influenced by both the content of mesogenic hard segments and the chain length of the polyester. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Dynamic mechanical properties and thermal degradation process of the compositions obtainedfrom unsaturated poly(ester urethanes) cross-linked with styrene

Dynamic mechanical and thermal properties of poly(ester urethanes) (PEU) cross-linked with styrene have been studied. The investigated polyurethanes were obtained from 4,4′-diphenylmethane diisocyanate and unsaturated oligo(alkyleneester)diol based on cis-2-butene-1,4-diol. The conducted analyses dealt with the correlation between the chemical structure of poly(ester urethanes) and their ability to phase separate as well as their thermal stability. The products of PEU thermal degradation were characterized using infrared spectroscopy.     

Synthesis, characterization and in vitro oxidative stability of poly(3,3,3-trifluoropropyl)methylsiloxane modified polyurethaneurea

A series of α,ω-bis(3-hydroxypropyl)-poly[(3,3,3-trifluoropropyl)methylsiloxane] (FPS) with different molecular weights were synthesized and characterized, then the FPS modified polyurethaneurea (FSPUU) elastomers were further synthesized with poly(tetramethylene glycol)/FPS as soft segments and 4,4′-diphenylmethane diisocyanate/ethylene diamine as hard segments. The surface properties of the FSPUU films were measured. It was found that the surface hydrophobicity of these FSPUU films was enhanced with increasing the molecular weight of FPS, due to the enrichment of FPS segments at the surface region. Oxidative stability of the FSPUU films was examined in vitro by immersing the films with 200 μm thickness in oxidative solution (H₂O₂/CoCl₂) for 21 days. The experimental results showed that the degree of degradation of all FSPUU films was lower than that of polydimethylsiloxane modified polyurethaneurea (MSPUU), and the oxidative stability of these FSPUU films was fair enhanced with increasing the molecular weight of FPS, which could be attributed to the lowering of swelling ratios in H₂O and 20% H₂O₂, as well as the permeation rate of H₂O in FSPUU films. Furthermore, the tensile strength of all FSPUU films is higher than that of MSPUU film.     

Tetrablock Copolymers Based on Oligoether Diols, 2,4-toluene diisocyanate,Isophorone Diisocyanate,and Methylene-bis-о-chloroaniline

Tetrablock polyurethane ureas with mixed soft segments and dissimilar hard urethane urea blocks, based on oligo(propylene oxide)diol, oligo(tetramethylene oxide)diol, 2,4-toluene diisocyanate, isophorone diisocyanate, and methylene-bis-o-chloroaniline as a low-molecular-mass chain extender were synthesized and studied. The fragmentary ordering of the polymer chains of the new polyurethane urea was proved by rheokinetic data. The structure–property relationship for the polymer was found. The new polyurethane ureas surpass in the true strength the available diblock polyurethane ureas with poly(propylene oxide) soft segments by a factor of 1.5. The strength properties of the new tetrablock polyurethane ureas only weakly depend on the strain rate varied in the range 0.56–0.006 s^–1.

     

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