A new UV-curable PU resin obtained through a nonisocyanate process and used as a hydrophilic textile treatment

A new UV-curable hydrophilic PU resin was obtained through a green, nonisocyanate, three-reaction process: (1) a bis(cyclic carbonate) (BCC) compound is prepared by inserting carbon dioxide into an epoxy resin (DGEBA) at atmospheric pressure; (2) an amino-terminated hydrophilic PU (NH2-PU) oligomer is obtained through the ring-opening polymerization of BCC utilizing a difunctional amino hydrophilic (polyether) compound such as Jeffamine D-2000; (3) the UV-curable acrylate-PU (UV-PU) prepolymer is obtained as an adduct from the Michael addition of NH2-PU to a diacrylate-terminated compound, 3-acryloyloxy-2-hydroxypropyl methacrylate (AHM). A polyester (PET) textile was treated with this hydrophilic UV-PU prepolymer and then cured by irradiation with UV light. The UV-PU resin was found to crosslink and anchor to the textile fibers after UV irradiation, resulting in a long-lasting hydrophilic surface for the treated textile. The performance properties of the new PU resin on the treated textile were investigated.