Flame Retardant Modified Bio-Based Waterborne Polyurethane Dispersions Derived from Castor Oil and Soy Polyol

Although tremendous efforts have been dedicated to developing environmentally friendly bio-based waterborne polyurethane (WPU) dispersions from vegetable oil, the fabrication of WPU dispersions solely derived from vegetable oil-based polyol with excellent comprehensive properties is still challenging. In the present work, novel bio-based WPU dispersions derived from castor oil and soy polyol is successfully modified by phosphorus-nitrogen chain extender [bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amino]-methyl-phosphonic acid dimethyl ester (BH). The structure and properties of the dispersions and films are characterized systematically by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis , mechanical test, and limiting oxygen index (LOI), etc. The results indicate that bio-based WPU films display moderate mechanical performance by adjusting BH content, and the WPU film containing 100% BH with 47.8% biobased content has a tensile strength of 8 MPa and the highest Young's modulus of 62.3 MPa. The incorporation of BH can increase the production of char residue. The flame retardancy of WPU films increase gradually with the BH molar content, and the LOI value of the WPU100 with 1.53 wt% phosphorus content can reach as high as 28.1%. This work may provide a new approach to develop high biobased content, eco-friendly, flame retardant WPU for application in the surface coating industry.