The Green Approach to the Synthesis of Bio-Based Thermoplastic Polyurethane Elastomers with Partially Bio-Based Hard Blocks

Abstract

Bio-based polymeric materials and green routes for their preparation are current issues of many research works. In this work, we used the diisocyanate mixture based on partially bio-based diisocyanate origin and typical petrochemical diisocyanate for the preparation of novel bio-based thermoplastic polyurethane elastomers (bio-TPUs). We studied the influence of the diisocyanate mixture composition on the chemical structure, thermal, thermomechanical, and mechanical properties of obtained bio-TPUs. Diisocyanate mixture and bio-based 1,4-butanediol (as a low molecular chain extender) created bio-based hard blocks (HS). The diisocyanate mixture contained up to 75 wt % of partially bio-based diisocyanate. It is worth mentioning that the structure and amount of HS impact the phase separation, processing, thermal or mechanical properties of polyurethanes. The soft blocks (SS) in the bio-TPU’s materials were built from α,ω-oligo(ethylene-butylene adipate) diol. Hereby, bio-TPUs differed in hard segments content (c.a. 30; 34; 40, and 53%). We found that already increase of bio-based diisocyanate content of the bio-TPU impact the changes in their thermal stability which was measured by TGA. Based on DMTA results we observed changes in the viscoelastic behavior of bio-TPUs. The DSC analysis revealed decreasing in glass transition temperature and melting temperature of hard segments. In general, obtained materials were characterized by good mechanical properties. The results confirmed the validity of undertaken research problem related to obtaining bio-TPUs consist of bio-based hard building blocks. The application of partially bio-based diisocyanate mixtures and bio-based chain extender for bio-TPU synthesis leads to sustainable chemistry. Therefore the total level of “green carbons” increases with the increase of bio-based diisocyanate content in the bio-TPU structure. Obtained results constitute promising data for further works related to the preparation of fully bio-based thermoplastic polyurethane elastomers and development in the field of bio-based polymeric materials.

Sustainable Strategy for Algae Biomass Waste Management via Development of Novel Bio-Based Thermoplastic Polyurethane Elastomers Composites

“… FTIR spectra for TPU composites of each series: ( a ) S1 (bio-TPU based composites containing blend of seagrass Zostera marina and Enteromorpha ); ( b ) S2 (bio-TPU based composites containing Chlorella vulgaris after algal oil extraction) and ( c ) S3 (bio-TPU based composites containing neat Chlorella vulgaris , before algal oil extraction), which confirmed the presence of urethane groups in the structure of matrix (in all series) by peaks occurring at 3320 cm −1 , 1730–1685 cm −1 , 1535 cm −1 , and 1172–1050 cm −1 characteristic for NH, C=O, CN, and N-C(O)O bonds and the absence of stretching vibration of NCO at 2250 to 2270 cm −1 [ 27 , 28 ]. …”

“…In the structure of bio-TPUs and their ABW-based composites, methyl group, methylene and methine group are present. In the FTIR spectra, the mentioned groups are revealed as stretching vibration at the range of wavenumber from 2809 cm −1 to 3012 cm −1 and bending vibration of CH 3 and symmetric deformation of CH 2 in the range from 1430 to 1459 cm −1 [ 27 , 28 ].…”

Bioelastomers: current state of development

“…The optimum content of bio-DIC was 50%, leading to materials with T g values of −49 °C for the soft segments and 60 °C for the hard segment and good mechanical properties (tensile strength ranging from 6.5 to 33.3 MPa). 99…”

Natural Phenolic Compounds as Modifiers for Epoxidized Natural Rubber/Silica Hybrids

“…The designing and preparation of pro-ecological composites, including bio-based elastomers, is still of great interest [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. Natural Rubber (NR) derived from Hevea brasiliensis plant is a popular biopolymer, widely utilized to obtain such elastomeric biocomposites [ 4 , 5 ].…”