Addition of Urethane-Based Thickener to Waterborne Polyurethane Adhesives Having Different NCO/OH Ratios and Ionic Groups Contents

Abstract

Several waterborne polyurethane adhesives containing different hard-to-soft segment ratios and ionic groups were prepared by using the acetone process. To improve the rheological properties, a 5 wt% of hydrophobically-modified ethoxylated urethane-based thickener (HEUR) was added. The adhesives were characterized by shear rate-controlled rheology, pH, particle size measurements, solids content and laser confocal microscopy. The adhesive films were characterized by plate–plate rheology, dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The adhesion properties were measured using T-peel tests of leather/thickened polyurethane adhesive/SBR rubber joints. The addition of the HEUR thickener produced an improvement in rheological properties of polyurethane adhesive dispersions as a result of the physical interactions between the polyurethane particles and the thickener. The addition of the HEUR thickener markedly increased the viscosity of the polyurethane adhesives, as the hard-to-soft segments ratio decreased and the ionic groups content in the polyurethane increased. As the hard segment content of the thickened polyurethane adhesive decreased, the kinetics of crystallization was favoured as a result of stronger polyurethane/thickener interactions. As a result, an improvement in the adhesive strength in the leather/thickened polyurethane adhesive/SBR rubber joints was obtained.

Keywords:

• WATERBORNE POLYURETHANE ADHESIVES
• URETHANE-BASED THICKENER
• THICKENING MECHANISM
• HARD-TO-SOFT SEGMENTS RATIO
• IONIC GROUPS CONTENT