THE INFLUENCE OF BIO-BASED CHAIN EXTENDER ON THE POLYURETHANE PROPERTIES
The development of polymers obtained from renewable raw materials is important because it is known that the fossil sources will be depleted in the future. Due to this fact, the possibilities for the synthesis of polyurethanes based on renewable resources increases. This work analyzes the properties of polyurethane materials obtained from the renewable resources. Polyurethane elastomers were prepared by a two stage process in solution, which involved the synthesis of the pre-polymer and synthesis of the polyurethane elastomer. As a polyol component, poly (propylene glycol) was used. Isophorone-diisocyanate and hexamethylene diisocyanate were employed as isocyanate components. For some samples, petrochemically obtained chain extender, butanediol, was replaced by biobased product isosorbide. Characterization of polyurethane materials was carried out by infrared spectroscopy with Fourier transformation, thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry. The properties of synthesized polyurethane materials were improved by adding the nanoparticles in various proportions.