Synthesis and swelling behavior of polyurethane networks based on hyperbranched polymer

Abstract

A series of six polyurethane (PU) networks was synthesized from BoltornR hydroxy-functional hyperbranched polyester (HBP) of the second pseudo generation as a crosslinking agent, ?,?- dihydroxy-(ethylene oxide-poly(dimethylsiloxane)-ethylene oxide) (EO-PDMS-EO) and 4,4?- methylenediphenyl diisocyanate, by a two-step polymerization in solution. Each sample of the prepared PUs had different EO-PDMS-EO content. The chemical structure of the synthesized networks was analyzed by FTIR spectroscopy. The influence of the EO-PDMS-EO content and type of the solvent on the swelling behavior of the PUs in 2-propanol and toluene was investigated. During the swelling measurements certain amount of sol fractions was extracted from the PUs by solvents. According to the 1H NMR results, sol fractions are mainly composed of the soluble hyperbranched PU, formed during the polymerization by partial modification of the end hydroxyl groups of HBP with NCO-terminated prepolymer synthesized in the first step of the reaction. Chains of the so reacted prepolymer can then fold back and form cyclic products by reaction of the free -NCO group from the NCO-terminated prepolymer with free -OH group of HBP. As the EO-PDMS-EO content increases the amount of the sol fractions and swelling degree also increased, indicating that networks with lower EO-PDMS-EO content are more crosslinked and have higher solvent resistance.