Chennai, India – A novel way of making biodegradable non-isocyanate PU films without catalysts has been developed by chemists at the SRM Institute of Science and Technology in Chennai.
First, they took polycaprolactone triol, a biodegradable polyol, and used this to make a glycerol carbonate derivative. This was then reacted with a new bio-based linalool diamine to form polyurethane in a one-pot reaction, with no need for a catalyst. They also used the polyol to make PU with both isosorbide diamine and hexamethylene diamine for comparison purposes.
Properties such as density of crosslinking, swelling behaviour and biodegradation potential were measured. Films cast from these non-iso PUs had good physicochemical and biodegradation properties.
Importantly, the PU film with the linalool-based diamine had significant biodegradation potential. They suggested that it has potential in sustainable coatings.
The work has been published in the journal RSC Advances.
