Premature degradation of polyurethane coatings has received much attention due to the use of these coatings on military assets.  Coatings are typically over-indexed so that complete reaction of the polyol occurs, providing required mechanical properties.  However, in doing such, over-indexing promotes urea linkage formation.  The role these urea linkages play in degradation is not fully understood.  This work set out to determine if the degradation process was directly related to the concentration of urea linkages within the coating system.  Poly(ether-urethanes) were synthesized with varying amounts of isocyanate to promote the formation of urea linkages.  FTIR-ATR confirmed that urea concentration increased with indexing.  Samples were then subjected several artificial weathering conditions, both with and without light, to correlate the effect of these linkages with observed premature coating degradation.  Detailed surface analysis provided additional insight into the mode of action and facilitated correlation of environmental exposure factors with observed physical degradation.<br/>

Polyurethane degradation and characterization of aerospace coatings

249th National Meeting (2015)

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