Aromatic Diols as Chain Extender in PU Reaction Molding

Abstract

Polyurethane (PU) has outstanding properties, and has been applied in many fields. In general, it is prepared by the reaction of diisocyanate, polyol, chain extender, surfactant, catalyst, filler, reinforcement and blowing agent, etc. Most studies are based on the use of aliphatic chain extender such as 1,4-butanediol. The disadvantage is their low sag temperature.In this study, the aromatic diols such as bis (hydroxyethyl) terephthalate, bisphenol A and hydroquinone are used to replace aliphatic diols commonly used in the conventional PU recipe. Thus, formed products are characterized and their mechanical and thermal properties are investigated. Results show that the products have the better mechanical property and the outstanding thermal resistant property.Due to the high melting point or the higher viscosity of the aromatic diols at room temperature, products are prepared by high temperature reaction molding. This system can be performed by modified RIM process.

Synthesis and properties of segmented polyurethanes with hydroquinone ether derivatives as chain extender

“…Only a few researches have involved with chain extender structure, particularly those containing aromatic chain extender [18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. S. N. Tong synthesized a series of TPUs with aromatic diols as chain extender to obtain the better mechanical properties and outstanding thermal resistance [25]. Liusheng Zha et al also prepared TPU with bis(2-hydroxyethy) ether (HQEE) as chain extender instead of 1,4-butanediol (BDO) [26].…”