Waterborne polyurethanes with a novel emulsifier derived from sunflower oil
A renewable, green and scalable dihydroxy acid was synthesised from sunflower oil and applied as a chain extender in the preparation of waterborne polyurethanes.
In order to prepare dihydroxy acid, epoxidised sunflower oil was ring-opened with methanol followed by saponification. Chemical structure of dihydroxy acid verified by FT-IR and 1H NMR spectroscopies.
Extensively efficient in coatings
Acetone process was used as a main method for the synthesis of waterborne polyurethane nanoparticles from Poly(1,4-butylene adipate) (PBA) and dihydroxy acid. Particle size and morphology of nanoparticles were investigated by Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), respectively and confirmed the narrow distribution with small particle diameters of nanoparticles (50–100 nm). The stable dispersion of nanoparticles applied for the preparation of films and subsequent characterisations of their thermal and mechanical properties. The obtained results corroborated that these kinds of novel waterborne polyurethane nanoparticles would be extensively efficient and applicable in coatings.
The study is published in: Progress in Organic Coatings, Volume 105, April 2017, Pages 303–309
