Polyurethanes have been widely used in a wide variety of applications that benefit our everyday life. However, in the present scenario, it is urgent to find solutions towards more sustainable polymeric systems that can be more biodegradable and less dependent on non-renewable feedstocks. The present work proposes a thorough structural investigation of polyurethane materials based on the use of two small eco-friendly reactants: glycerol and urea. The results with glycerol demonstrated a preferential reactivity of MDI with primary alcohol terminals, except when the diisocyanate was in excess, which resulted in crosslinking formation (shown in ¹³C NMR). Urea-based materials displayed superior thermal stability, associated with higher crystallinity and intermolecular forces, as observed in TGA, XRD, and FTIR. Overall, the structural characteristics support the potential of biodegradability of the studied polyurethanes and polyureas.

聚氨酯已广泛用于有益于我们日常生活的各种应用中。但是，在目前的情况下，迫切需要找到一种更具可持续性的聚合物系统的解决方案，该系统可生物降解性更高，并且对不可再生原料的依赖性较小。本工作基于使用两种小的环保反应物：甘油和尿素，对聚氨酯材料进行了彻底的结构研究。甘油的结果表明MDI与伯醇末端具有优先反应性，除非二异氰酸酯过量时，这会导致交联形成（如图¹³所示）。1 H NMR）。如在TGA，XRD和FTIR中观察到的，基于尿素的材料显示出优异的热稳定性，并具有更高的结晶度和分子间力。总体而言，结构特征支持了所研究的聚氨酯和聚脲的生物降解潜力。