Synthesis and characterization of crystallizable aliphatic thermoplastic poly(ester urethane) elastomers through a non-isocyanate route

A simple non-isocyanate route is developed for synthesizing crystallizable aliphatic thermoplastic poly(ester urethane) elastomers (TPEURs) with good thermal and mechanical properties. Three prepolymers of 1,6-bis(hydroxyethyloxycarbonylamino) hexane (BHCH), i.e. PrePBHCHs, were prepared through the self-transurethane polycondensation of BHCH. A poly(butylene adipate) prepolymer (PrePBA) with terminal HOaEuro center dot groups was prepared and used as a polyester glycol. A series of TPEURs were prepared by the co-polycondensation of the PrePBHCHs with PrePBA at 170 A degrees C under a reduced pressure of 399 Pa. The TPEURs were characterized by gel permeation chromatography, FTIR, H-1-NMR, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, wide-angle X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, and tensile test. The TPEURs exhibited M (n) up to 23300 g/mol, M (w) up to 51100 g/mol, T (g) ranging from -33.8 A degrees C to -3.1 A degrees C, T (m) from 94.3 A degrees C to 111.9 A degrees C, initial decomposition temperature over 274.7 A degrees C, tensile strength up to 18.8 MPa with a strain at break of 450.0%, and resilience up to 77.5%. TPU elastomers with good crystallization and mechanical properties were obtained through a non-isocyanate route.