Design strategy for waterborne polyurethane with sodium sulfonate groups on the soft segments

The field of waterborne polyurethane (WPU) is gaining a great deal of momentum from both a commercial and academic sense because of increasing environmental and sustainable awareness. For polyurethane (PU) to be dispersible in water, the hydrophilic groups are very important in the design of the polymer chains. Herein, we present a design strategy for WPU having hydrophilic groups on the soft segments through the reaction of as‐synthesized OH‐terminated poly(ε‐caprolactone) diols containing a sodium sulfonate group with diisocyanate. A stable aqueous dispersion was then obtained, and this was followed by a subsequent chain extension reaction and emulsification. We found that the PU dispersion particles were a core–shell structure with a good particle size distribution, and the obtained films exhibited a low tensile strength and a high elongation at break. This approach provided valuable information for fundamental research in the production, modification, property enhancement, and new applications of these materials. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 39657.