Thermoplastic Poly(urethane urea)s From Novel, Bio-based Amorphous Polyester Diols

In this study, two novel, bio‐based, amorphous polyester diols, namely poly(1,2‐dimethylethylene adipate) (PDMEA) and poly(1,2‐dimethylethylene succinate) (PDMES) are used to prepare thermoplastic poly(urethane urea)s (TPUUs). Interestingly, the TPUUs based on PDMEA show similar thermal and mechanical properties as their counterparts based on poly(1,2‐propylene glycol). By decreasing the hard segment length, the flow temperature (Tfl) of the TPUUs decreases. The Tfl values of the 3U series are around 170 °C, which is below their degradation temperatures. The methyl groups adjacent to the ester groups in PDMEA and PDMES may hinder the hydrolysis of the polyester soft segments in the TPUUs. Novel thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU) based on two novel amorphous polyester diols are compared with TPUs containing conventional polydiols. When selecting the proper hard segment length, the TPUs based on the amorphous polyesters exhibit comparable thermal and mechanical properties to their conventional counterparts and show potential for biodegradation.