Imparting Reprocessability, Quadruple Shape Memory, Self-Healing, and Vibration Damping Characteristics to a Thermosetting Poly(urethane-urea)

The advent of dynamic covalent bond chemistry (DCBC) has sparked renewed research interest in reprocessability of thermosetting polymers. However, combining reprocessability with stimuli-responsiveness remains a challenge for futuristic applications. Usually, a combination of complementary DCBCs is employed to integrate reprocessability with shape memory as well as self-healing (SH) attributes in a single polymeric system. In the present work, we report two-component poly(urethane-urea) (PUU) networks, with varied hard segment (HS) concentrations, that exhibit quadruple shape memory (QSM), efficacious vibration damping, thermally activated intrinsic SH as well as multiple cycles of thermal reprocessability. The component A is an isocyanate capped bi-soft segment blend of polybutadiene diol and polypropylene glycol, while the second component comprises an aromatic diamine chain extender solubilized in an oligomeric polyoxypropylene triol. The networks characterized through FTIR as well as small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS and WAXD) revealed a phase-separated morphology with extensive hydrogen-bonding (H-bonding) interactions in the HS domains of the PUU networks. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) measurements revealed broad dissipation factor (tan δ) vs temperature and frequency profiles of the networks, which could be leveraged for efficacious passive vibration damping applications. A dissociative mechanism of urethane and urea bond exchange, evidenced from temperature-dependent FTIR studies enabling facile stress relaxation, is proposed to be the mechanistic origin of the reprocessability and SH of the networks. A broad dissipation factor (tan δ) vs temperature profiles endowed the networks with QSM characteristics. We posit that the study is relevant for expanding the scope of DCBCs for development of reprocessable thermosetting polyurethanes with multiple smart functionalities.