Methods to Improve Polyurethane Toughness

Date: 2025-06-26     From: Longding     Author: admin

Methods to improve the toughness of polyurethanes include the addition of toughening agents, changes in polymerization, and changes in ratios. Specifically, this can be achieved by selecting suitable polyols and isocyanates, introducing flexible chain segments, or using reactive toughening agents.

Methods to Improve Polyurethane Toughness

1. Add a toughening agent

Adding a toughening agent is one of the common methods to improve the toughness of polyurethane. Commonly used toughening agents include nanopowders, polymer microspheres, rubber particles, carbon fibers and so on. These toughening agents can form a “bridge” in the polyurethane material, so that the polyurethane molecules produce cross-linking between the role of enhancing the toughness and strength of the material. For example, adding nanopowder to polyurethane materials can improve the interfacial bonding ability and strength of the material, preventing cracks and fractures.

2. Change the polymerization mode

Changing the polymerization mode is also an effective method to improve the toughness of polyurethane. Polyurethane polymerization is divided into two types: solution polymerization, the other is phase transfer polymerization. By changing the polymerization method, the crosslinking between molecules in the polymerization process can be adjusted, thus affecting the toughness and strength of the material. For example, the polymer microspheres in the phase transfer polymerization can be used as nonionic surfactants, which exist as colloidal particles in the reaction system, which can form a uniform cross-linking structure, thus improving the toughness and strength of the material.

3. Change the ratio

Changing the ratio of polyurethane is also one of the methods to improve the toughness of polyurethane. The composition of polyurethane material has three basic elements: polyether polyol, isocyanate, and chain extension agent. Appropriately changing the ratio of these three basic elements can adjust the structure and properties of polyurethane materials, which in turn affects the toughness and strength of polyurethane. For example, increasing the amount of chain extender can improve the toughness and strength of the polyurethane material, but it will reduce the hardness and abrasion resistance of the material.

4. Other methods

In addition to the above methods, there are some other methods that can also improve the toughness of polyurethane. For example, the use of low-temperature curing process can slow down the curing speed of polyurethane materials, thus improving the toughness of the material; the use of adding surfactants can improve the interfacial bonding ability of polyurethane materials and increase the toughness and strength of the material.