Biobased chain extended polyurethane and its composites with silk fiber

Abstract

The biobased chain extended polyurethane (PU) was synthesized by reacting castor oil based polyol with different diisocyanates [toluene-2,4-diisocyanate (TDI) and hexamethylene diisocyanate (HMDI)] and chain extender such as glutaric acid. Biocomposites have been fabricated by incorporating the silk fiber into both TDI- and HMDI-based PUs. The effect of incorporation of silk fiber into TDI- and HMDI-based neat PU on the physicomechanical properties such as density, surface hardness, tensile strength, and percentage elongation have been investigated. The dynamic mechanical properties and the thermal stability of neat PUs and the silk fiber incorporated PU composites have been evaluated. The TDI-based neat PU has showed higher mechanical properties compared to HMDI-based PU. The incorporation of 10% silk fiber into TDI- and HMDI-based PU resulted in an enhancement of tensile strength by 1.8 and 2.2 folds, respectively. The incorporation of silk fiber into biobased chain extended PU increased the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the resultant biocomposites. The morphology of tensile fractured neat PUs and their biocomposites with silk fiber was studied using scanning electron microscope (SEM). POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2010. © 2009 Society of Plastics Engineers