Abstract
A considerable number of research works focus on the positive influence of cellulose on the properties of polymer-based composites and their wide range of application possibilities. The present work is focused on the synthesis of novel bio-based polyurethane (bio-PU) composites filled with powdered cellulose (microcellulose, MC) in an amount of 5 wt.%. Bio-PU composites were synthesized via a non-solvent prepolymer method. First, the prepolymer was synthesized from diisocyanate mixture based on hexamethylene diisocyanate and bio-based polyisocyanate Tolonate™ X Flo 100 and α,ω-oligo(ethylene-butylene adipate)diol which contained cellulose. Then, resulted prepolymer was extended by bio-based 1,4 butanediol (bio-BDO). Bio-PU composites were obtained with the different [NCO]/[OH] molar ratios: 0.95, 1.0, 105 and 1.1. Special attention was paid to the influence of MC on the phase separation between soft and hard segments of bio-PU by studying the chemical structure, morphology and thermal and mechanical properties of the prepared cellulose-based composites.
Highlights
The versatile chemical structure and properties of polyurethanes (PUs) and their composites have led to these materials finding a wide range of practical and different applications, such as in the automotive, medical devices or furniture industries (Głowińska and Datta 2016; Trache et al 2016)
It was confirmed that the [NCO]/[OH] molar ratio and the addition of cellulose influenced phase separation of novel bio-PU composites
Based on FTIR analysis, it was found that powdered cellulose caused a decrease in the degree of phase separation (DPS) index
Summary
The versatile chemical structure and properties of polyurethanes (PUs) and their composites have led to these materials finding a wide range of practical and different applications, such as in the automotive, medical devices or furniture industries (Głowińska and Datta 2016; Trache et al 2016). The influence of cellulose addition and the effect of a different [NCO]/[OH] molar ratio on the chemical structure, thermo-mechanical, thermal and mechanical properties and morphology of obtained PU composites were studied. In the case of bio-based polyurethane composites synthesized at the [NCO]/[OH] molar ratio of 0.95, a lower ability to form physical and chemical cross-links was observed.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
