posted on 2022-01-05, 12:34authored byWencai Wang, Siao Sun, Shikai Hu, Bin Yang, Shaoyun He, Runguo Wang, Liqun Zhang
Thermoplastic polysiloxane-based
polyurethane (Si-TPU) has been
attracting a great deal of attention because of the dual advantages
of polysiloxane and polyurethane. However, the strength of Si-TPU
with a traditional structure is low, and improvement is urgently needed
for diverse applications. Herein, we design a polysiloxane-based soft
segment (SS) with two urethane groups at the end of the polysiloxane
chain, and then we prepare a series of Si-TPUs through a designed
SS, isophorone diisocyanate and 1,4-butanediol. Such structural design
improves the polarity of the SS and endows more regular hydrogen bonds
to the polymer molecular chain. As a result, the prepared Si-TPUs
exhibit a good microphase separation structure, unprecedentedly high
strength, repeatable processing, noncytotoxicity, shape memory properties,
and three-dimensional printing capabilities. Moreover, a maximum tensile
strength of Si-TPUs can reach 20.3 MPa, exceeding that of other existing
Si-based polymer materials. Si-TPUs show great potential for biomedical
applications.