Hydrolysis-resistant polyurethane elastomers synthesized from hydrophobic bio-based polyfarnesene diol

Hydrolytic stability is an essential requirement for polyurethanes (PUs) that are used in highly humid and aqueous environments. In this study, hydrolysis-resistant PU elastomers (PUEs) are synthesized based on hydrophobic bio-based polyfarnesene diol (PFD), which contains unique “bottle brushes” structure (with long branched hydrocarbon side chains). The effect of hard segment (HS) content, ranging from 30 to 50%, on the morphology and properties of PUEs is investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, tensile, water absorption, and contact angle measurements. The results show that there are prominent phase separations in the synthesized PUEs. The PUEs show a three-stage degradation process and two T_g, one is at about −66 °C and the other 61 °C, which are related to the soft segment and HS, respectively. Water contact angles of PUEs increase from 98.6 to 105.2° with the increasing of PFD structural unit fraction. After being immersed in deionized water for 30 days, PUEs show no significant degradation of both tensile strength and elongation at break, and mass changes of all samples are less than 0.5%. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 47673.     

Healable,Recyclable, and Mechanically Tough Polyurethane Elastomers with Exceptional Damage Tolerance

There is a huge requirement of elastomers for use in tires, seals, and shock absorbers every year worldwide. In view of a sustainable society, the next generation of elastomers is expected to combine outstanding healing, recycling, and damage-tolerant capacities with high strength, elasticity, and toughness. However, it remains challenging to fabricate such elastomers because the mechanisms for the properties mentioned above are mutually exclusive. Herein, the fabrication of healable, recyclable, and mechanically tough polyurethane (PU) elastomers with outstanding damage tolerance by coordination of multiblock polymers of poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS)/polycaprolactone (PCL) containing hydrogen and coordination bonding motifs with Zn²⁺ ions is reported. The organization of bipyridine groups coordinated with Zn²⁺ ions, carbamate groups cross-linked with hydrogen bonds, and crystallized PCL segments generates phase-separated dynamic hierarchical domains. Serving as rigid nanofillers capable of deformation and disintegration under an external force, the dynamic hierarchical domains can strengthen the elastomers and significantly enhance their toughness and fracture energy. As a result, the elastomers exhibit a tensile strength of ≈52.4 MPa, a toughness of ≈363.8 MJ m⁻³, and an exceptional fracture energy of ≈192.9 kJ m⁻². Furthermore, the elastomers can be conveniently healed and recycled to regain their original mechanical properties and integrity under heating.     

Steel slag waste combined with melamine pyrophosphate as a flame retardant for rigid polyurethane foams

To explore the potential application of industrial waste, steel slag powder in combination with melamine pyrophosphate (MPP) was adopted to improve the flame retardancy of rigid polyurethane foam (RPUF). The incorporation of steel slag slightly reduced the thermal conductivity of the resulting flame-retardant RPUF samples. The addition of MPP and/or steel slag did not significantly alter the thermal stability in terms of T_-10% and T_max but did obviously increase the T_-50% value, suggesting the improved thermal resistance of the residues. The coaddition of MPP and steel slag into RPUF resulted in higher LOI values and lower peak heat release rates than the samples incorporating either MPP or steel slag alone. The superior flame retardancy could be attributed to MPP promoting char formation, which then acted as a barrier at the beginning of RPUF thermal decomposition; simultaneously, the thermally stable inorganics in the steel slag powder strengthened the thermal resistance of this char layer.     

Graphite powder coated polyurethane sponge hollow tube as a high-efficiency and cost-effective oil-removal materials for continuous oil collection from water surface

In this study, the cost-effective graphite powder (GPd)-coated polyurethane (PGPd-PU) sponge hollow tube (PGPd-PUHT) was prepared for high-efficient continuous oil removal, the hydrophobicity-superoleophilicity PGPd-PU sponge was fabricated through a simple dip-coating method, which dipping PU sponge into GPd dispersion and drying, then coating polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) on sponge skeleton, as-prepared sponge could selectively absorb a variety of oils up to 34 times of its own weight for dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). The PGPd-PUHT was prepared via wrapping PGPd-PU sponge on porous tubular support. The obtained PGPd-PUHT could continuously collect various types of oils from water surface with flux as high as 1.52 kL/m²h, and excellent separation efficiency (up to 97.7%) for toluene, as well as remarkable reusability. Moreover, a continuous floating oil collection device based on PGPd-PUHT was designed which showed excellent floating oil collection ability. In addition, our strategy possesses the advantages of low cost, simple preparation, highly efficient, and easily scale-up, showing a great potential for dealing with practical oil spill remediation. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020 , 137, 48921.     

Thermoplastic polyurethane–urea elastomers with superior mechanical and thermal properties prepared from alicyclic diisocyanate and diamine

High-performance thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) elastomers have long been the objective of numerous studies. In this work, thermoplastic polyurethane–urea (TPUU) elastomers with balanced superior mechanical and thermal properties, in comparison with the rare cases of high-performance TPU/TPUU elastomers with super-high tensile strength, were synthesized by the reaction of polycarbonate diols with excess alicyclic isophorone diisocyanate, followed by the chain extension of alicyclic isophorone diamine. When the content of hard segment was around 47%, the TPUU elastomer had super-high tensile strength of 51.7 MPa, initial elastic modulus of 698 MPa and elongation at break of 480%. The temperature range of this TPUU elastomer's rubbery state was up to 120°C with storage modulus above 200 MPa, and its rubbery flow state reached 200°C where the storage modulus was still as high as 100 MPa. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis indicated the presence of strongly hydrogen bonded urethane and urea groups in these TPUU elastomers. Atomic force microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry studies demonstrated significant and nearly perfect microphase separation in these TPUU elastomers when the hard segment content was around or below 47%. These noncrystalline TPUU elastomers could be thermally processed or processed in the form of a solution.     

喷涂缠绕保温管用全水发泡聚氨酯组合聚醚的研制

用聚醚多元醇A、聚醚二醇B、聚酯多元醇PS-2915、三乙醇胺、水和其他助剂制备了喷涂管道用全水发泡聚氨酯硬泡组合聚醚,并对其反应性能、黏度进行评价,对使用该组合聚醚和多异氰酸酯PM-200制得的聚氨酯泡沫材料的性能进行研究。结果表明,在合适的原料用量时,制得的组合聚醚黏度较低,与多异氰酸酯PM-200的反应速度满足喷涂管道生产工艺要求。当喷涂制得的聚氨酯泡沫单层厚度7 mm左右,泡沫体具有较高的粘接强度、较好的韧性和较低的导热系数,密度61 kg/m^3的泡沫压缩强度达到526 kPa。制得的喷涂管道产品满足GB/T 34611—2017要求。     

快干羟基丙烯酸酯乳液的合成及性能研究

采用核壳乳液聚合方法制备了羟值为 1.5%的低羟丙烯酸酯乳液。研究了聚合物理论 T_g、壳中羟基质量分数、核聚合物 Hansch参数对双组分漆膜干燥速度的影响。结果表明：漆膜干燥速度随理论 T_g、壳中羟基质量分数及核聚合物 Hansch参数的增加而加快，当 T_g为 50 ℃、壳中羟基质量分数为 1.1%、核聚合物 Hansch参数为 3.43时，漆膜于 25 ℃、60%相对湿度下的实干时间可缩短至 95 min，在大巴、工程机械涂装等需要快干的领域具备潜在应用价值。     

Mechanically Robust,Ultraelastic Hierarchical Foam with Tunable Properties via 3D Printing

A mechanically robust, ultraelastic foam with controlled multiscale architectures and tunable mechanical/conductive performance is fabricated via 3D printing. Hierarchical porosity, including both macro‐ and microscaled pores, are produced by the combination of direct ink writing (DIW), acid etching, and phase inversion. The thixotropic inks in DIW are formulated by a simple one‐pot process to disperse duo nanoparticles (nanoclay and silica nanoparticles) in a polyurethane suspension. The resulting lightweight foam exhibits tailorable mechanical strength, unprecedented elasticity (standing over 1000 compression cycles), and remarkable robustness (rapidly and fully recover after a load more than 20 000 times of its own weight). Surface coating of carbon nanotubes yields a conductive elastic foam that can be used as piezoresistivity sensor with high sensitivity. For the first time, this strategy achieves 3D printing of elastic foam with controlled multilevel 3D structures and mechanical/conductive properties. Moreover, the facile ink preparation method can be utilized to fabricate foams of various materials with desirable performance via 3D printing.     

Fire safety of thermoplastic polyurethane based on pyromellitic dianhydride

In this paper, pyromellitic dianhydride (PMDA) was firstly used as fire safety agent for thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU). And, the fire safety improvement of PMDA in TPU was intensively investigated by limiting oxygen index (LOI), smoke density test (SDT), cone calorimeter test, and thermogravimetric/infrared spectroscopy, respectively. It has been found that PMDA could significantly improve the ignition level, and the LOI value increase to 28.5% when 8.0 wt% PMDA was incorporated into TPU; PMDA also could effectively suppress the smoke production and heat release during the combustion process. The peak heat release rate and total smoke release of the sample with 8.0 wt% PMDA were decreased by 68% and 22% compared with pure TPU in cone calorimeter test. The thermogravimetric/infrared spectroscopy results showed that PMDA could improve the thermal stability of TPU composites at high temperature and increased the release of CO₂, H₂O, and so on. All results confirmed that PMDA would have a good prospect in reducing the fire hazard of TPU.     

磁性石墨烯/聚氨酯柔性复合材料的制备及自修复效能

为了提高复合材料的导电、导热及自修复性能，在传统共混法的基础上采用化学沉积法将四氧化三铁（Fe₃O₄）修饰到石墨烯上，得到磁性石墨烯，并将其与聚氨酯、碳纳米管共混后经磁场干预控制石墨烯片层的排列得到磁性石墨烯/聚氨酯柔性复合材料。采用SEM、Raman、FTIR对柔性复合材料的微观形貌、分子结构进行表征，并通过激光导热仪、四探针电阻率测定仪和万能试验机分析磁场调控对复合材料电、热、力学以及修复性能的影响。结果表明：磁场下柔性复合材料中的石墨烯片层排列规则，且层次分明，轮廓清晰可见；其热扩散系数相比于未加磁场提高了10 %~12 %，且在高温下具有稳定性，缺陷修复时间减少了50 %；对比出现缺陷前及修复后的复合材料发现，表面电阻率和抗拉强度分别相差0.006Ω·cm和2.4MPa，而无磁场环境下的变化量是其 3～4倍。