# Chemical Structure and Thermal Properties versus Accelerated Aging of Bio-Based Poly(ether-urethanes) with Modified Hard Segments

## TL;DR

This paper studies how bio-based poly(ether-urethanes) change structurally and thermally during accelerated aging.

## Contribution

The study introduces bio-based TPUs with modified hard segments and evaluates their aging behavior using multiple analytical techniques.

## Key findings

- Bio-TPUs decomposed in two main stages and showed thermal stability up to about 300 °C.
- Accelerated aging affects the supramolecular structure of TPUs.
- FTIR, DSC, TGA, and DMTA revealed structural and property changes due to aging.

## Abstract

Aging of polymers is a natural process that occurs during their usage and storage. Predicting the lifetime of polymers is a crucial aspect that should be considered at the design stage. In this paper, a series of bio-based thermoplastic poly(ether-urethane) elastomers (bio-TPUs) with modified hard segments were synthesized and investigated to understand the structural and property changes triggered by accelerated aging. The bio-TPUs were synthesized at an equimolar ratio of reagents using the prepolymer method with the use of bio-based poly(trimethylene ether) glycol, bio-based 1,3-propanediol, and hexamethylene diisocyanate or hexamethylene diisocyanate/partially bio-based diisocyanate mixtures. The polymerization reaction was catalyzed by dibutyltin dilaurate (DBTDL). The structural and property changes after accelerated aging under thermal and hydrothermal conditions were determined using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA). Among other findings, it was observed that both the reference and aged bio-TPUs decomposed in two main stages and exhibited thermal stability up to approximately 300 °C. Based on the research conducted, it was found that accelerated aging impacts the supramolecular structure of TPUs.