Colorless, Transparent, and High-Performance Polyurethane with Intrinsic Ultraviolet Resistance and Its Anti-UV Mechanism

Abstract

Polyurethane (PU) is a widely used polymer material that will age under prolonged exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light, shortening the service life. Several methods have been used to prepare the anti-UV PU, including adding nonreactive anti-UV additives, functional fillers, and biological antioxidant molecules. However, the nonreactive anti-UV additives may migrate during long-term use, the functional fillers may damage the mechanical properties and seriously reduce the light transmittance of the sample, and the biological antioxidant molecules will inevitably color the sample. To solve these problems, in this work, a benzotriazole UV absorber (Chiguard R-455) was introduced into the PU molecular chains by in situ polymerization to prepare the nonmigrating intrinsic anti-UV PU sample with high performance and colorless transparency. The anti-UV PU samples exhibit light transmittance of over 88% in the visible range and superior mechanical properties with tensile strength higher than 65 MPa and elongation at break higher than 900%. After 24 h UV irradiation (200 W, 365 nm), the tensile strength and elongation at break of pure PU sample are significantly reduced to only 8.9 and 15.8% of the original one, respectively. On the contrary, the addition of Chiguard R-455 will endow the PU sample with excellent anti-UV performance. After 24 h UV irradiation, the tensile strength (67.2 ± 1.6 MPa) and elongation at break (917.4 ± 30.0%) of PU-0.5% (the content of Chiguard R-455 is only 0.5 wt %) have changed little compared with the sample without irradiation (67.4 ± 3.5 MPa and 919.4 ± 26.5%). Additionally, the anti-UV mechanism of the PU sample is systematically studied. This work provides a feasible method for preparing colorless, transparent, high-performance, nonmigrating intrinsic UV-shielding PU samples, which can be used as a UV light-shielding material in various fields with visible and aesthetic requirements, such as protection fields and wearable products.

Transparent, Self-Healing, and Recyclable Biomass-Based Covalent Adaptable Networks Formed via Magnolol and Dynamic Boronate Ester

“…The CANs we prepared have excellent self-healing ability, reprocessability, and recyclability, which, of course, are generally possessed by CANs. However, it should be noted that due to the biphenyl structure of magnolol, our BCANs can strongly absorb ultraviolet light and have intrinsic antiultraviolet properties, which are not possessed by other CANs. − Moreover, they have extremely low absorption of visible light, so we can use them to make UV protective goggles to protect eyes from UV damage. The MBD gel content exceeded 95% (Figure S1), indicating a remarkably efficient formation of the cross-linking network.…”

Thermal-Driven Self-Healing Polyurethane Based on Polydopamine Nanoparticles with Enhanced Mechanical and UV Shielding Properties

“…Wang et al developed lignin/zinc oxide nanocomposites with good UV absorption capabilities by hydrothermal technique using industrial alkali lignin as the raw material, and the UV shielding properties and mechanical properties of PU are enhanced by introducing the lignin/zinc oxide nanocomposites into PU . However, as a polymer material, long-term UV irradiation will inevitably lead to PU yellowing and cracking, shortening the replacement cycle of the material . Therefore, it is of great significance to introduce self-healing functionality to PU-based UV shielding materials, as it can prolong the service life of the materials, improving the stability and reliability of the UV shielding properties.…”

Chitosan Oligosaccharide Based Waterborne Polyurethane with UV Resistance and Oxidation Resistance for Functional Fabric

“…The addition of some functional biomass materials can impart corresponding functions to polyurethane, such as antibacterial activity, [19] UV resistant, [20,21] anti-oxidation, [22] and so on. [23,24] Some researchers use the biomass-based waterborne polyurethane for fabric finishing to improve the performance of the fabric.…”