Aqueous Polyurethane/Polyurethane-urea Dispersions (PUD) with High Bio-based Content

Technology #3027.2

Polyurethane dispersions (PUDs) have emerged as very important class of binders for coatings due to their versatility, performance and low VOC. The conventional commercial PUDs are almost exclusively derived from petrochemical resources accounting for their high carbon foot-print, besides increasingly high cost. Bio-based materials are emerging as very important alternative resources for sustainable development of coatings.

A novel polyol with customized features has been derived from soybean oil (soy-polyol) by a single-step low energy intensive process. Polyurethane dispersions based on this soy-polyol, with bio-based content of up to ~60% have been prepared using conventional prepolymer process. Films of PUDs have been characterized for physical and mechanical properties. Besides high bio-based content, the ease of processing, versatility, and excellent performance properties of these novel PUDs provide useful insight into their potential commercial applications as environmentally- friendly and sustainable binders for coatings.