CO2-based polyurethane elastomers with enhanced mechanical and tunable room-temperature damping performances

• Published in: European polymer journal Vol. 220; p. 113499
• Main Authors: Wang, Xin, Yin, Dexian, Chen, Zhi, Hu, Yuqiong, Hu, Shikai, Zhao, Xiuying
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 15.11.2024
• Subjects: Carbon-fixed; CO2-based polyurethane; Controllable damping; Poly (propylene carbonate); Room-temperature; Poly (propylene carbonate); Carbon-fixed; Controllable damping; CO2-based polyurethane; Room-temperature
• ISSN: 0014-3057
• DOI: 10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2024.113499

[Display omitted] •A novel CO2-based PU elastomer is successfully synthesized from CO2-based PPCD.•Tg of the elastomer effectively encompasses the room-temperature damping range.•CO2-based PU elastomer exhibits excellent damping and mechanical properties.•Mechanism of PU structure affecting damping and mechanical properties is surveyed. Elastomers provide excellent damping performance owing to their unique viscoelasticity, which are widely used as vibration and noise reduction materials. However, conventional rubber-based elastomers with a low glass transition temperature (Tg) and narrow damping range are difficult to adapt to room-temperature conditions. Additionally, most of petroleum-based elastomers hinder the sustainable development. In this work, a series of novel polyurethane elastomers was synthesized using carbon-fixed CO2-based polycarbonate propylene diol (PPCD). The impact of hard segment (HS) content on the thermal, mechanical, and damping properties of CO2-based polyurethane (PU) was comprehensively investigated. Increasing the HS content from 16 % to 44 % increased the Tg from −3.8 °C to 21.7 °C, covering the entire damping range at room temperature with an adjustable damping performance. Furthermore, the tensile strength increased from 7.2 MPa to 27.0 MPa. The synthesis of CO2-based PU can propel the utilization of PU in damping applications, enabling sustainable advancement of the PU industry.