Shear-Induced Structuring Kinetics in Thermoplastic Segmented Polyurethanes Monitored by Rheological Tools

Elise Mourier (1) , R. Fulchiron (1) , Françoise Méchin (2)

1 IMP-LMPB - Ingénierie des Matériaux Polymères - Laboratoire des Matériaux Polymères et des Biomatériaux
2 IMP-LMM - Ingénierie des Matériaux Polymères - Laboratoire des Matériaux Macromoléculaires

Thermoplastic segmented polyurethanes (TPUs) are an important class of thermoplastic elastomers with a twophase microstructure arising from the thermodynamic incompatibility between hard (HSs) and soft segments. This microphase separation observed on cooling from a homogeneous state is often combined with the solidification of either or both types of segments. In this study, the structuring mechanism of two TPUs with HSs based on 4,40-diphenylmethane diisocyanate and 1,4-butanediol was investigated from rheological measurements. Hence, in addition to the structuring temperature influence, the effect of an applied preshear flow in the melt polymer was analyzed, in particular. The results clearly show an enhancement of the solidification kinetics by the preshear. Indeed, the measured structuring time can be reduced by more than 1 decade. Rheo-optical microscopy observations coupled with a shearing hot stage corroborated these results and showed the modification of the microstructure by the shear.

Mots clés: microphase separation; morphology; polyurethanes; rheology; shear-induced structuring

Domaines: Polymères

Elise Mourier, R. Fulchiron, Françoise Méchin. Shear-Induced Structuring Kinetics in Thermoplastic Segmented Polyurethanes Monitored by Rheological Tools. Journal of Polymer Science Part B: Polymer Physics, 2010, 48, pp.190-201. ⟨10.1002/polb.21888⟩. ⟨hal-00445670⟩