Preparation, Morphology and Properties of Waterborne-Polyurethane/Silica

A series of waterborne-polyurethane/silica (WPU/SiO2) were prepared from isophoronediisocyanate, polyester polyol, dimethylolpropionic acid, tetraethoxysilane and 3-glycidyloxypropyl trimethoxysilane. The WPU/SiO2 dispersion had narrower particle size distribution than the pure WPU. The mechanical properties of WPU/SiO2 films were improved than the pure WPU. WPU/SiO2 films were characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy, SEM, TEM, AFM, XRD and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The results showed that WPU/ SiO2 hybrid films were found to be smooth morphology, and had good thermal stability and tunable transparence with the silica fraction in the film. Through suitable adjustment of silica content, some thin films have potential applications as the specialty materials.