Green, sustainable, and environment-friendly materials have raised significant interests from both academia and industry as decreasing petroleum storages and environmental issues become big obstacles in many countries. Polyurethanes provide elastic, impact-resistant, and tough materials for various applications such as clothing, insulations, adhesives, and sealants. However, isocyanate, a key starting material for polyurethane synthesis, is highly reactive and toxic. Side reactions with moisture increase equipment cost and safety concerns during storage, transportation, and production for polyurethanes. Not to mention synthesis of isocyanate utilizes phosgene, a more reactive and toxic compound with acute safety and environmental concerns. Literatures from last decade highlight the advantages of the reaction between a cyclic carbonate and a primary amine in forming a hydroxyurethane bond. This reaction allows the synthesis of a variety of isocyanate-free poly(hydroxyurethane)s (PHUs) with various chain architectures such as crosslinked and linear polymers. However, most linear PHUs lack mechanical integrity and chemical resistance. Some crosslinked PHUs showed comparable mechanical properties to conventional polyurethanes but lacked tunability in material performance, which largely limited the applications of PHUs. We report an one-pot synthesis platform for a series of novel poly(amide hydroxyurethane)s (PAHUs) based on renewable resources. Facile monomer synthesis proceeded under mild conditions with bio-friendly reagents. The series of PAHU products contained both nonsegmented and segmented PAHUs with tunable thermal, mechanical, rheological properties and crystallinity. These PAHUs were thermoplastics with comparable mechanical properties to traditional polyurethanes. This versatile synthesis platform also opens windows for a library of PAHU for various applications.

Novel isocyanate-free polyurethanes from biobased resources

250th National Meeting (2015)

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