Reinforcement of polyether polyurethane with dopamine-modified clay : the role of interfacial hydrogen bonding

• Main Authors: Phua, Si Lei, Yang, Liping, Toh, Cher Ling, Huang, Shu, Tsakadze, Zviad, Lau, Soo Khim, Mai, Yiu-Wing, Lu, Xuehong
• Other Authors: School of Materials Science & Engineering
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/97037; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/10271
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Dopamine-modified clay (D-clay) was successfully dispersed into polyether polyurethane (PU) by solvent blending. It is found that the incorporation of D-clay into PU gives rise to significant improvements in mechanical properties, including initial modulus, tensile strength, and ultimate elongation, at a very low clay loading. The large reinforcement could be attributed to the hydrogen bonds between the hard segments of PU and stiff D-clay layers that lead to more effective interfacial stress transfer between the polymer and D-clay. Besides, the interactions between D-clay and PU are also stronger than those between Cloisite 30B organoclay and the PU chains. Consequently, at a similar clay loading, the PU/D-clay nanocomposite has much higher storage modulus than the PU/organoclay nanocomposite at elevated temperatures.