Seawater degradable thermoplastic polyurethanes

Degradable thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) elastomers incorporating poly(D ,L ‐lactide‐co‐glycolide) (PLGA) were synthesized and characterized. The soft segments consisted of a mixture of poly(butylene adipate) (PBA) and PLGA with PBA/PLGA ratios of 100/0, 75/25, and 50/50 wt %. Two PLGA polyesters were used. BD‐PLGA was initiated from butanediol; whereas BHMBA‐PLGA was initiated from 2,2‐bis‐(hydroxymethyl)butanoic acid. The hard segments consisted of dicyclohexylmethane‐4,4′‐diisocyanate (H₁₂MDI) and 1,4‐butanediol (BD). The hard segment content, expressed as the weight ratio of BD to polyol used in the TPU formulation, was set either at 8 or 12% (31.2 or 38.1% hard segment by weight, respectively). In all cases initial [NCO]/[OH] ratio was 1.03. The tensile modulus of the TPUs ranged from 9 to 131 MPa and ultimate strains ranged from 100 to 750%. DMA was used to probe the thermomechanical transitions of the TPUs and indicated useful application temperatures from well below zero up to 60–80°C depending on the formulation. Hydrolytic degradation of the TPUs was tested in seawater at 37°C. All of the PLGA‐containing TPUs showed enhanced degradation compared to those with only PBA as the soft segment. The latter compositions remained essentially unchanged throughout the test while the PLGA‐containing TPUs lost as much as 45% of their initial mass in 153 days. Molecular weights of TPUs containing degradable polyols were lower than those derived from 100% PBA polyol. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010