Design, polymerization, and properties of polyurethane elastomers from miscible, immiscible, and hybridized seed‐oil derived soft segment blends

Polyester seed‐oil derived polyols have been prepared and blended with conventional polyols for making polyurethane elastomers. Miscibility was complete for polypropylene oxide/polyethylene oxide and polytetramethylene oxide (PTMEG). Blends of polyester seed‐oil derived polyols with conventional polyester polyols (polybutylene adipate and ɛ‐polycaprolactone) were immiscible or nearly so. Furthermore, the phase behavior (miscible vs. immiscible) did not change appreciably for each blend composition explored as a function of temperature at relevant ranges (up to the polyether ceiling temperature). This counter‐intuitive result is found to be actually consistent with calculated solubility parameters for each polyol type and the phase diagrams computed on their basis. The phase behavior of the polyols is shown to have significant effects on the properties of polyurethane elastomers where immiscible polyols cause broadening of the glass transition distribution and significant reduction of ultimate tensile properties. However, here it is shown that immiscible systems containing polyester seed‐oil derived polyols can be transesterified with the appropriate polyol partner of interest to create a new single phase polyol or that the polyester polyol monomers can also be copolymerized to make new single phase polyols, both of which result in improved polyurethane elastomer properties. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2015, 53, 93–102