Rheological and mechanical properties of thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer derived from CO2 copolymer diol

CO2 copolymer diol-based thermal polyurethane elastomers (PPC-TPU) were prepared by the reaction of CO2 copolymer diol and methylene diphenyl diisocyanate and chain extender (ethylene glycol/1,4-butanediol/1,6-hexanediol) (EG/BDO/HG). The rheological and mechanical properties of PPC-TPU were analyzed. The effects of shear rate, shear temperature, hard segment content, and variety of chain extender on the properties of PPC-TPU were studied. The results showed that the apparent viscosity (η) of PPC-TPU decreased with the increasing shear rate (τ), and the non-Newtonian index (n) was less than 1. PPC-TPU exhibited a typical character of pseudoplastic non-Newtonian rheological behavior. The degradation during the processing was obviously inhibited by adding plasticizer and antioxidant. It was also discovered that the apparent viscosity varied with the content of hard segment and chain extender. Under the same temperature (185 °C) and shear rate (50 s−1), the apparent viscosity increased considerably with the raise of hard segment content, and the apparent viscosity and tensile strength of PPC-TPU with EG as chain extender was the maximum. It can be seen that with the apparent shear rate increasing, the variation tendency of apparent shear stress levels off, and the nonlinear relationship of τ–γ curve tended to be obvious. PPC-TPU exhibited a typical character of pseudoplastic non-Newtonian rheological behavior. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017, 135, 45974.