Synthesis and Characterization of Thermoplastic Polyurethaneureas based on Polyisobutylene and Poly(tetramethylene oxide) Segments

Abstract

New thermoplastic polyurethaneureas (TPUU) based on polyisobutylene (PIB) and poly(tetramethylene oxide) (PTMO) segments have been synthesized possessing tensile properties comparable to conventional PTMO based TPUs. PIB based TPUU containing 35 weight (wt)% hard segment was synthesized by chain extension of H₂N-Allyl-PIB-Allyl-NH₂ with 4,4′ -methylene bis(phenylisocyanate) (MDI) and 1,4-butanediol (BDO) in toluene. The ultimate tensile strength (UTS) = 12 MPa and ultimate elongation = 70% were inferior to PTMO based polyurethane (UTS = 35 MPa, elongation at break = 600%). H₂N-Allyl-PIB-Allyl-NH₂ and HO-PTMO-OH in different proportions were chain extended in presence of MDI and BDO to obtain TPUUs containing 35 wt% hard segment. The polymers exhibited M _ns = 84000–138000 with polydispersity indices (PDIs) = 1.7–3.7. The UTS = 23–32 MPa and elongation at break = 250–675% was comparable to that of PTMO based polyurethane and significantly higher than the PIB based TPUU with the same Shore hardness. The Young's modulus of the polymers was strongly dependent and directly proportional to the PIB wt% in the SS of the TPUUs.

Keywords:

• Polyurea
• elastomers
• mechanical properties
• biomaterials
• polyisobutylene

Acknowledgement

Funding from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center is gratefully acknowledged.

Notes

^a H₂N-PIB-NH₂,

^b HO-PTMO-OH,

^c SS:HS = 65:35 wt%.