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

Area of Science:

• Polymer Science
• Materials Science
• Sustainable Chemistry

Background:

• Growing demand for sustainable polymeric materials drives research into bio-based alternatives.
• Thermoplastic polyurethane elastomers (TPUs) are versatile materials with applications in various industries.
• Developing green synthesis routes for bio-TPUs is crucial for reducing reliance on petrochemicals.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize novel bio-based thermoplastic polyurethane elastomers (bio-TPUs) using a mixture of partially bio-based and petrochemical diisocyanates.
• To investigate the impact of varying diisocyanate mixture composition on the properties of the resulting bio-TPUs.
• To assess the potential for creating sustainable polymers with enhanced characteristics.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of bio-TPUs using a diisocyanate mixture and bio-based 1,4-butanediol for hard segments, and α,ω-oligo(ethylene-butylene adipate) diol for soft segments.
• Variation of hard segment content (30-53%) and partially bio-based diisocyanate content (up to 75 wt%).
• Characterization using Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), Dynamic Mechanical Thermal Analysis (DMTA), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), and mechanical testing.

Main Results:

• Increased bio-based diisocyanate content positively influenced thermal stability (TGA) and altered viscoelastic behavior (DMTA).
• Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) indicated a decrease in glass transition temperature and melting temperature of hard segments with higher bio-based content.
• The synthesized bio-TPUs exhibited good mechanical properties, confirming the effectiveness of bio-based hard segments.

Conclusions:

• The study successfully demonstrated the feasibility of producing bio-TPUs with partially bio-based hard segments.
• Incorporating bio-based diisocyanates enhances the sustainability of TPUs by increasing "green carbon" content.
• The findings provide a promising foundation for developing fully bio-based TPUs and advancing bio-based polymer materials.