| Abstract: | To prepare self-emulsifiable urethane acrylate, poly(ethylene glycol)-modified urethane acrylates (PMUA), containing polyoxyethylene chains as a terminal group were synthesized by the reaction of a residual isocyanate group with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG). Five types of PMUA were synthesized using five types of PEG having different molecular weight. As the chain length of polyoxyethylene of PMUA increased, the thermal stability of their emulsions improved and the tensile strength of their UV-cured films were also increased. For PMUA600 prepared using PEG600, the thermal stability of the emulsion and tensile strength of UV-cured film were relatively low. However, the emulsions of PMUAs which were synthesized using PEG2000, PEG4000, and PEG6000 were stable with increasing temperature and the tensile strength of their cured films was greater than that of PMUA 600. When PMUA600 was mixed with PMUA2000, PMUA4000, and PMUA6000, the thermal stability of the emulsions of mechanical properties of their UV-cured films were improved greatly. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 64: 2657–2664, 1997 |
