Swelling characteristics of NR/PU block copolymers and the effect of NCO/OH ratio on swelling behaviour

A series of (NR/PU) block copolymers (BCs) was prepared from toluene diisocyanate (TDI), 1,3-butane diol (1,3-BDO), and hydroxyl-terminated liquid natural rubber (HTNR), by solution polymerisation. The swelling characteristics of the BCs were investigated. Diffusion profile in various solvents and the sorption kinetics were studied. Arrhenius and thermodynamic parameters were evaluated from the diffusion data. Finally, the influence of NCO/OH ratio on the swelling behaviour was also studied. The equilibrium sorption value (Q∞) decreased with increasing NCO/OH ratio for all the BCs. The samples have higher uptake of solvents with solubility parameter within a small range centred about 9 (cal/cm3)1/2. Highly polar and non-polar solvents show minimum uptake. It was observed that polarity factor predominates in the solvent transport through the present block copolymer systems. The sorption behavior is also found to vary with the NCO/OH ratio employed in the preparation of polyurethane (PU) oligomers.