Synthesis and Characterization of Novel Polyurethane Acrylates Based on Soy Polyols

Novel polyurethane acrylates (PUAs) were prepared by the reaction of soy polyols with isophorone diisocyanate and hydroxyethylacrylate. FTIR results confirmed the formation of PUAs from different kinds of soy polyols. The glass transition, damping properties, thermal stabilities, and mechanical properties of PUAs were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and universal test machine. The morphology of PUAs was investigated by scanning electron microscope (SEM). The results of the swelling experiments showed that the crosslinking density of polyurethanes and PUAs directly correlated with the hydroxyl (OH) number of polyols. The DSC and DMA results displayed that the glass transition temperature of PUAs was higher than that of polyurethanes and increased with OH number. Furthermore, the formation of PUA networks improved the damping properties of polyurethanes. TGA results demonstrated the acrylation of polyurethanes improved its thermal stability. The initial decomposition temperature of polyurethanes and PUAs also increased with OH number. When compared with polyurethanes, the tensile strengths of PUAs were improved by 118%, 39%, and 9%, respectively, with the increase of OH number of three soy polyols. (C) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 122: 2449-2455, 2011