Surface characteristics of UV-irradiated polyurethane elastomers extended with α, ω-alkane diols

Abstract Polyurethane elastomers (PUEs) based on 4,4′-diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI), poly (ɛ-caprolactone) (PCL) and extended with series of chain extender (CE) were synthesized via two step polymerization technique. The synthesized samples were irradiated for 50, 100 and 200 h in an UV exposure unit as such the spectral distribution of the light is good match for terrestrial solar radiation. The modifications in the chemical structures of the PU before and after irradiation were characterized using Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) technique. The effect of irradiation time and chain extenders length on surface properties were studied and investigated. Photo-oxidation of PU surface leads to fast increase in surface free energy and its polar component. Simultaneously, the work of water adhesion to polymer increases significantly during UV-irradiation. The higher changes in surface properties, observed by water absorption (%), equilibrium degree of swelling, as well as monitored by ATR-FT-IR and contact angle measurement, were found for the PU samples extended with higher number of methylene unit and irradiation time.