Elastic Polyurethane Ionomers from Dimer Acid Elastic Polyurethane Ionomers from Dimer Acid

Abstract

Recently, bio-based polyurethanes have received much attention as environmentally benign materials. This study deals with a dimer acid-containing polyurethane ionomer showing good elastic properties. A polyester polyol was prepared by the reaction of dimer acid with an excess of 1,4-butanediol. The polyol was reacted with 4,4’-diphenylmethanediisocyanate and N-methyldiethanolamine, and subsequently, the reaction of the resulting polyurethane with 1,3-propanesultone produced the polyurethane ionomer possessing the zwitterionic group. The FT－IR and DSC data suggest the aggregation of the zwitterionic group in the polyurethane. Mechanical properties were improved by the introduction of the zwitterionic group.