Network Structures, Flexibility and Stability in Thermal and Chemical Environments of Polyurethane Prepared from Rubber Seed Oil.

Abstract

Rubber seed oil monoglyceride was prepared by glycerolysis and characterized by chemical and spectroscopic methods. The monoglyceride was reacted with excess diisocyanates (hexamethylene -diisocyanate and toluene diisocyanate), and the network structures and molecular mass of the polyurethane were determined from swelling experiments in toluene and size exclusion chromatography respectively. The polyurethane films obtained were characterized in terms of their resistance to chemicals (water, brine, dilute acid and alkali) thermal stability and tensile and flexural strength and modulus. It was found that under the experimental conditions, conversion of the triglyceride content of the rubber seed oil to monoglyceride not quantitative less than 70%. The measured properties of the RSO-based polyurethanes were attributed to the degree of crosslinking and the observed superior properties of the polyurethane obtained with hexamethylene diisocyanate in comparison with polyurethane obtained with toluene diisocyanate were explained in terms of structure-property relationship. The measured properties of RSO-based polyurethanes compare favourably with the properties reported for polyurethanes derived from other vegetable oils.