ISSN:
0887-6266
Keywords:
polyether polyol
;
polyurethane foam
;
block-segmented copolymers
;
microphase separation
;
optical microscopy
;
transmission electron microscopy
;
small-angle X-ray scattering
;
Physics
;
Polymer and Materials Science
Source:
Wiley InterScience Backfile Collection 1832-2000
Topics:
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Physics
Notes:
A series of flexible polyurethane slabstock foam samples were prepared with varying water content and studied using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), video-enhanced optical microscopy (VEM), and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). A new TEM sample preparation technique was developed in which the foam is impregnated with water, frozen, and microtomed, and the polyether soft segment is selectively degraded in the electron beam. Structures of two size scales were detected. A texture with grains (“urea aggregates”) 50-200 nm in size was imaged using both VEM and low-magnification TEM for foams with formulations containing more than 2 pphp water. For the first time, images of urea hard segment microdomains in polyurethane foam (approximately 5 nm in size) were obtained using high-magnification TEM. A microdomain spacing of approximately 6-8 nm was estimated from the SAXS scattering profiles. Glycerol was added to one of the formulations in order to modify the urea microphase separation and to give insight into morphology development in molded polyurethane foam systems. No structure was observed in low-magnification TEM images of the glycerol-modified foam, although smaller structures (hard segments) were detected at high magnification and by SAXS. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 36: 573-581, 1998
Additional Material:
7 Ill.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
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