Castor oil-based cationic waterborne polyurethane dispersions: Storage stability, thermo-physical properties and antibacterial properties

In this study, castor oil and its derivative were used to prepare cationic waterborne polyurethane dispersion using N-methyl diethanolamine (MDEA) as ion center. The effect of polyol functionalities and the ionic chain extender contents on the particle size and antibacterial properties of the polyurethane dispersions, and thermo-mechanical, thermal stability, mechanical properties, water/solvent uptakes of the resulting polyurethane films were thoroughly investigated. Moreover, all the polyurethane dispersions exhibit enhanced antibacterial activity against Vibrio parahaemolyticus with the rise of MDEA content and the reduction of polyol functionalities, but rarely antibacterial activity to Listeria monocytogenes. To the best of my knowledge, this work for the first time extensively investigate the structure-property relationships of castor oil based cationic waterborne polyurethane dispersions and their polyurethane films.