Synthesis and characterizations of waterborne polyurethane modified with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane

Waterborne polyurethane (WPU) was prepared by the reaction of isophorone isocyanate (IPDI), polyether polyol (PTMG1000), dimethylol propionic acid (DMPA), and trimethylol propane (TMP) and 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) as coupling agent. The films of the WPU were prepared by casting emulsions on Teflon surfaces. The structure of the polyurethane (PU) was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR), thermogravimetry (TG), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). The mechanical properties and solvent absorption of the cast films were also measured quantificationally. FT-IR indicates that –NH₂ of APTES reacted with –NCO of PU prepolymer. TG analysis indicates that APTES can improve thermal stability of PU. XRD and DSC show that crystallinity of PU decreased with the increase of w(APTES). It was found that greater mechanical properties of WPU were obtained when chemical networks were formed between PU and APTES. As the mass fraction of APTES increases from 0% to 10%, water absorption decreased from 17% to 8%, ethanol absorption decreased from 46% to 30%. The particle size increases with increase of w(APTES).