Structure and properties of polyurethane acrylate prepolymers based on hydroxy-terminated polybutadiene

Precursors of polyurethane acrylate based on hydroxy-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) soft segments, different diisocyanate and hydroxy ethyl acrylate (HEA) as hard units, were synthesized in bulk or in solution in methyl methacrylate. During precursor synthesis (in bulk), microphase separation was observed by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). Diffusing particles are around 50 A in size and are assumed to be assembling of hard segments. From these morphologies, it can be deduced that some isocyanate groups were trapped/or buried in hard domains. At a larger scale, around millimeters, hard segment crystallites were observed. Properties such as molar masses, melting and glass-transition temperatures, and viscosities were correlated with precursor structure and morphology. (C) 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc