Mechanical and dynamic mechanical properties of degradable polyurethane foams with PEG/PCL mixed soft segments

Polyurethane (PU) with mixed poly(ethylene glycol) / poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PEG/PCL) soft segments is a representatively kind of degradable polyurethane material. Polyurethane foams (PUF) with mixed PEG/PCL soft segments were synthesized by using one pot method, and their mechanical and dynamic mechanical properties were investigated. Influences of PEG/PCL weight ratio and molecular weight of soft segments on PUF's mechanical and dynamic mechanical properties were studied. The results showed that: with increasing content of PCL, PUF's tensile strength, elongation at break, stress at certain tensile/compressive strain and storage modulus increased gradually; with increasing molecular weight of soft segment, PUF's elongation at break increased, but tensile strength, stress at certain tensile/compressive strain and storage modulus all decreased accordingly; glass transition temperature (T(g)) of PUF with various soft segments decreased according to the following sequence: PEG-400, PCL-210N, PEG-1000 and PTMG1000; loss factor of PUF with PEG/PCL mixed soft segments was higher than that of PUF with individual PEG or PCL soft segments.