Fatty acids based transparent polyurethane films and coatings

Renewable resources used in the preparation of polymers are falling in the class of biomaterials which are rich in hydrocarbons and most of the times obtained from parts of profusely available agriculture feedstock. Use of non-edible vegetable oils and their fatty acids are currently the raw materials focused in synthesizing polymeric materials as renewable sources due to increasing economic and environmental concerns of petroleums. The current oil based polymers are prepared by consuming petroleum based anhydrides and dicarboxylic acids. With this investigation, we tried to substitute almost all components of petroleum feed stock by renewable sources in preparation of polyol. Initially palmitic acid was used as a renewable source to prepare palmitamide by amidation reaction. Further amide was converted into the polyesteramide resin (PEPAD) by reacting it with another renewable resource, i.e. dimer fatty acid which is the dimerized product of unsaturated fatty acids of vegetable oils. Structure of the prepared resin was confirmed by spectroscopic techniques and resin was also characterized by end group analysis like hydroxyl and acid values. The molecular weight of PEPAD was ranged between 2590 and 2760 g mol⁻¹. Palmitic acid based polyesteramide was used to prepare polyurethanes by varying amount of diisocyanate. The transparent polyurethane films and coatings were obtained and examined for water absorption, contact angle, hardness, coating properties, solvent, acid and alkali resistances. The thermal properties of the polyurethane films were estimated by TGA and discussed. It was found that change in NCO content affected on transparency as well flexibility of the prepared films. It also noticed that thermal stability was shifted toward higher range by increasing mole (NCO/OH) ratios due to formation of urea linkages.