Thermochimica Acta, Vol.596, 6-13, 2014
Rheological cure characterization of an advanced functional polyurethane
As part of our continuing study of the curing kinetic and chemorheological analysis of a functional polyurethane (PU) segmented block copolymer formation, in the current paper, we focus on the use the rheological measurements to monitor the entire curing process. The curing reaction was between a metallo-polyol derived of hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB), i.e., (ferrocenylbutyl) dimethylsilane grafted HTPB, and isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI). The evolution of viscoelastic properties, such as storage modulus (G'), loss modulus (G '') and complex viscosity (eta*) was recorded in isothermal conditions, at four different temperatures in the range of 50-80 degrees C. The gel times (t(gel)s) were determined by the loss tangent (tan delta) crossover at different frequencies, and the activation energy obtained from them was 69.8 kJ/mol. The rheological properties in the region of the gel point have shown that they follow the percolation theory, demonstrating a power law dependence for the shear modulus with a critical exponent n = 0.67 +/- 0.01, for the higher curing temperatures, 70 and 80 degrees C, and a slightly lower one at lower temperatures, 50 and 60 degrees C. In addition, three different empirical models, among them the Arrhenius and Kiuna rheokinetic models, were used to predict the change in viscosity of this system with the time in the pre-gel region. These results illustrate the rheological curing behavior of this PU resin, its final application being found in the development of advanced energetic composite materials. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.