Elastomeric Polyurethane Foams Incorporated with Nanosized Hydroxyapatite Fillers for Plastic Reconstruction

Preparation and Evaluation of Nanofibrous Hydroxypropyl Cellulose and β-Cyclodextrin Polyurethane Composite Mats

A series of nanofibrous composite mats based on polyurethane urea siloxane (PUUS), hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) and β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) was prepared using electrospinning technique. PUUS was synthesized by two steps solution polymerization procedure from polytetramethylene ether glycol (PTMEG), dimethylol propionic acid (DMPA), 4,4'-diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI) and 1,3-bis-(3-aminopropyl) tetramethyldisiloxane (BATD) as chain extender. Then, the composites were prepared by blending PUUS with HPC or βCD in a ratio of 9:1 (w/w), in 15% dimethylformamide (DMF). The PUUS and PUUS based composite solutions were used for preparation of nanofibrous mats. In order to identify the potential applications, different techniques were used to evaluate the chemical structure (Fourier transform infrared-attenuated total reflectance spectroscopy-FTIR-ATR), morphological structure (Scanning electron microscopy-SEM and Atomic force microscopy-AFM), surface properties (contact angle, dynamic vapors sorption-DVS), mechanical characteristics (tensile tests), thermal (differential scanning calorimetry-DSC) and some preliminary tests for biocompatibility and microbial adhesion.

Measuring the Microphase Separation Scale of Polyurethanes with a Vibration-Induced Emission-Based Ratiometric "Fluorescent Ruler"

Polyurethanes (PUs) are a very attractive type of segmented polymer with unique mechanical properties derived from thermodynamic incompatibility between flexible soft segments and hard segments. The performance of PUs is closely related to their microphase separation structures, in which the hard domains serve as physical cross-linking points in the soft matrix. Studying the microphase separation of PUs in a facile manner is thus of great significance but challenging due to the complexity of the internal structures of PUs. N,N'-disubstituted-dihydrophenazine (DPAC) derivatives, the typical molecules featured with vibration-induced emission (VIE) attribute, can emit fluorescence varying with surrounding environment. In this proof-of-concept work, a series of DPAC derivatives were employed as built-in ratiometric "fluorescent rulers" to measure the degree of microphase separation in PUs modulated by temperature variation. The fluorescence of selected DPAC-doped PU films is dependent on the temperature, providing a theoretical basis for this concept. The feasibility of these fluorescent rulers was further validated by the small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) analysis. The SAXS curves show significant change in q range of 0.02 to 0.15 Å^-1 with the variation in temperature, showing the changes in the internal microstructure. The polydisperse hard sphere model analysis of the scattering data revealed that the volume fraction of hard spheres has a defined relationship with the fluorescence intensity ratio of orange-red light and blue light, thereby demonstrating a novel fluorimetry method for measuring and monitoring the microphase separation of polyurethanes.

Studying a Flexible Polyurethane Elastomer with Improved Impact-Resistant Performance

A flexible polyurethane elastomer (PUE) is studied, and the improved impact-resistant performance is revealed. Compressive stress–strain curves over a wide loading rate range were derived. Under static loading, the rubbery-like characteristics are demonstrated, which are flexible and hyperelastic, to process a large strain of about 60% followed by full recovery upon unloading. Under high-rate loadingcompared with the mechanical data of polyurethane elastomer (PUE) and polyurea (PUA) materials in the literature. Orderly parallel deformation bands were formed from carrying a large strain. The fibrils were found between deformation bands for enhancing the yield/plateau stress. A considerable plastic zone ahead of propagating crack with numerous crazes and microcracks was produced for realizing the dynamic strain energy absorption. This work presents a scientific innovation for developing outstanding impact-resistant polyurethane elastomers for transparent protection engineering.