Control of Mechanical Properties of Thermoplastic Polyurethane Elastomers by Restriction of Crystallization of Soft Segment

Mechanical properties of thermoplastic polyurethane elastomers based on either polyether or polycarbonate (PC)-glycols, 4,4’-dipheylmethane diisocyanate (1,1’-methylenebis(4-isocyanatobenzene)), 1,4-butanediol, were controlled by restriction of crystallization of polymer glycols. For the polyether glycol based-polyurethane elastomers (PUEs), poly(oxytetramethylene) glycol (PTMG), and PTMG incorporating dimethyl groups (PTG-X) and methyl side groups (PTG-L) were employed as a polymer glycol. For the PC-glycol, the randomly copolymerized PC-glycols with hexamethylene (C(6)) and tetramethylene (C(4)) units between carbonate groups with various composition ratios (C(4)/C(6) = 0/100, 50/50, 70/30 and 90/10) were employed. The degree of microphase separation and mechanical properties of both the PUEs were investigated using differential scanning calorimetry, dynamic viscoelastic property measurements and tensile testing. Mechanical properties could be controlled by changing the molar ratio of two different monomer components.