Synthesis of Thermoplastic Polyurethanes Containing Bio-Based Polyester Polyol and Their Fiber Property

Among the starting materials of thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPUs), it was confirmed that succinic acid-based polyester biopolyols having different molecular weights (M(n) = 1000, 2000, and 4000) affect the physicochemical properties of the final polymer significantly. Bio-TPUs synthesized through a solvent-free one-shot polymerization process were synthesized with a polyester polyol, 1,4 butanediol (BDO), and 4,4′-methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) in a molar ratio of 1:1:2. As a control group, one typical petroleum-based TPU was synthesized and characterized along with other bio-based TPUs. Representative petroleum-based and bio-based TPUs synthesized were manufactured as monofilaments with a diameter of about 0.2 mm through an extrusion process with different draw ratios (4, 5, and 6 times). The molecular weight and structural properties of the TPUs were characterized by GPC and FT-IR analysis and thermal characterization by DSC and TGA analysis. Petroleum-based TPU and bio-based TPU having the same molecular weight soft segment (SS) tended to have similar molecular weight and hard segment (HS) content. TPUs with high HS content had excellent thermal stability, enabling stable extrusion of TPUs. In addition, it was confirmed that the bio-based TPU fibers produced in this way had a tensile strength corresponding to the physical properties of petroleum-based TPU fibers and an excellent elastic recovery rate of almost 100 %. These results indicate the application potential of bio-TPU.