ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Biodegradable polyhydroxybutyrate as a polyol for elastomeric polyurethanes

Lucy Vojtová, Vojtěch Kupka, Jan Žídek, Jaromír Wasserbauer, Petr Sedláček, and Josef Jančář

CEITEC — Central European Institute of Technology, Brno University of Technology, Technická 3058/10, 616 00 Brno, Czech Republic

E-mail: lucy.vojtova@ceitec.vutbr.cz

Abstract: In the proposed work, new elastomeric bio-polyol based polyurethanes (bio-PUs) with specific mechanical properties were prepared by a one-shot process without the presence of a solvent. Commercial non-degradable polyether polyol derived from petrochemical feed stock was partly (in the amount of 1 mass %, 5 mass %, and 10 mass %) substituted by the biodegradable polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB). Morphology of elastomeric PU composites was evaluated by scanning electron microscopy and mechanical properties of the prepared samples were obtained by both tensile measurements and prediction via the Mooney-Rivlin equation. Electron microscopy proved that the prepared materials have the character of a particle filled composite material, where PHB particles are regular with their size of about 1–2 μm in diameter. Tensile measurements demonstrated that the Young’s modulus, tensile stress at break, and tensile strain at break of each sample increase with the increase of the volume fraction of the filler. From the measured stress-strain data, the first and the second term of the Mooney-Rivlin equation were calculated. The obtained constants were applied to recalculate the stress-strain curves. It was found that the Mooney-Rivlin equation corresponds well with the stress-strain behavior of the prepared specimens.

Keywords: polyurethanes – elastomers – biodegradable – poly(hydroxybutyrate) – simulation – Mooney-Rivlin equation

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.2478/s11696-012-0176-9

Chemical Papers 66 (9) 869–874 (2012)