The phenomenon of tack has been studied in urethan—urea elastomers prepared from polyether or polyester prepolymers and 4,4′-methylenebis(2-chloroaniline). It is shown that tack at zero elongation is attained only in polymers in which the flexible chains, i.e., polyesters or polyethers, contain 50 chain links or more. This coincides with the requirements for the Gaussian vector function in elastomers. The results suggest that, in the absence of flexible chain ends in these polymers, tack is solely contributed by the flexible segments along the polymer chains, while the rigid blocks in the chains do not participate in the formation of tack.

synopsisThe phenomenon of tack has been studied in urethane-urea elastomers prepared from polyether or polyester prepolymers and 4,4'-methylenebis( 2-chloroaniline). It is shown that tack at zero elongation is attained only in polymers in which the flexible chains, i.e., polyesters or polyethers, contain 50 chain links or more. This coincides with the requirements for the Gaussian vector function in elastomers. The results suggest that, in the absence of flexible chain ends in these polymers, tack is solely contributed by the flexible segments along the polymer chains, while the rigid blocks in the chains do not participate in the formation of tack.