The preparation of hybrid trimer by cyclo-oligomerization of TDI and HDI and its curing process with polyols to form elastic PU coating

The hybrid cyclic isocyanate trimer with appropriate functionality and good solvent tolerance which can be used as a building block to construct polyurethane (PU) coatings was prepared by cyclo-oligomerization of toluene diisocyanate (TDI) and hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI). Among all the tested catalysts, the self-made catalyst 3-(trimethylammonio)propyl carbonate (Cat. 4) was found to possess enough catalytic efficiency to confirm the NCO conversion to reach about 50% with both high (1 wt%) and low (0.25 wt%) catalyst loading at low temperature (40°C). The IR and NMR results proved the formation of a hybrid trimer, while HPLC results showed hybrid TDI/HDI trimer predominated in the product and only trace amounts of TDI monomer (<0.5 wt%) and oligomer with higher degree of polymerization (DP) remained. Furthermore, the formed hybrid oligomer exhibited excellent solvent tolerance to benzene, chlorinated, and acetate solvents. Consequently, Cat. 4 was demonstrated to be a suitable catalyst for cyclo-oligomerization since it not only possessed enough catalytic efficiency at low temperature but also hardly resulted in higher DP oligomer. Furthermore, the curing process with PTHF-r-PEO polyol was conducted as a pilot experiment to form PU coatings at room temperature. The disappearance of NCO group in IR spectrum as well as higher storage modulus against loss modulus implied the successful curing process. The strain–stress test showed the high tensile strength of formed PU coating, whereas the rheological test and dynamic mechanical analyzer proved the formed PU coating was a typical elastic material with good crosslink structure. These results indicate the promising potential of formed PU made from hybrid TDI/HDI trimer for coating applications.