Synthesis and properties of semi-crystalline hyperbranched poly(ester-amide) grafted with long alkyl chains used for UV-curable powder coatings

A series of semi-crystalline hyperbranched poly(ester-amide)s by modifying hydroxyl end groups of hyperbranched poly(ester-amide) (HP) with IPDI-C18 and IPDI-HEA in different ratios were synthesized and characterized by FTIR, NMR and GPC. Their crystallization behaviors and thermal properties determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) showed that the high substitution degree of hydroxyl groups of hyperbranched poly(ester-amide) (HP) with IPDI-C18 resulted in higher degree of crystallization and thus glass transition temperature (T_g) up to 43 °C. The photopolymerization kinetics investigated by photo-DSC showed that the obtained semi-crystalline hyperbranched resins have high photopolymerization rate and final unsaturation conversion, which is very promising for UV-curable powder coating applications.