Preparation and Characterization of Polyamide4(PA4)-Polyurethane(PU)-PA4 Triblock Copolymers

Polyamide4 (PA4)-polyurethane (PU)-PA4 triblock copolymers were synthesized by isocynated (NCO)-terminated PU prepared from 4,4'-diphenyl methane diisocyante (MDI) and polytetramethylene glycol (PTMG) as an initiator and potassium pyrrolidonate (P-py) as a catalyst for anionic ring opening polymerization of 2-pyrrolidone. Subsequently copolymer was controlled to contain different or same molecular weight of PA4 hard block with same or different molecular weight of PU soft block in order to investigate the effects of those differences on various properties of triblock copolymers as a thermoplastic elastomer. As the results shown in typical properties of block copolymeric elastomers, the mechanical strength and melting point (Tm) of the copolymers increased with an increase in molecular weight of PA4 block while the elongation at break increased with an increase in that of PU block.