With increasing materials demands, researchers are looking towards new methods of property modification and control. One area that is receiving much attention is the incorporation of a nanoscale secondary or tertiary phase into a polymeric system either through physical blending or chemical hybridization. In this work, icosahedral ortho-carborane cages have been covalently incorporated into the hard segment of a methylenediisocyanate-polytetramethlyene glycol (MDI-PDMG PU) segmented polyurethane elastomer. A combination of solid state NMR and thermal analysis techniques have been employed to characterize the effects of carborane cage inclusion on the morphology and dynamics of the polyurethane system. The resultant materials show significantly altered high temperature thermal degradation and condensed melt phase behavior. These alterations in thermal properties are linked to observed changes in the structural morphology of the PU-carborane hybrids, which are less crystalline and significantly less phase separated than the base PU.

Effects of <i>[omicron]</i>-carborane on the structural morphology of segmented polyurethane elastomers

243rd National Meeting (2012)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.

Effects of [omicron]-carborane on the structural morphology of segmented polyurethane elastomers