Synthesis and properties of conducting organic/inorganic polyurethane hybrids

A series of polyurethane/polyaniline/silica organic/inorganic hybrids were synthesized via the conventional polyurethane (PU) prepolymer technique. Amine-endcapped polyaniline (PANI) with low molecular weight and higher solubility was firstly synthesized. This PANI oligomer was then used together with nano-silica bearing silanol groups as chain extenders to prepare the conducting polyurethane hybrids. The polyurethane hybrids were designated as PU-xPANI-ySiO2 (x + y = 1). For comparison, the urethane-aniline block copolymer and the PU/silica hybrid were designated as PU-PANI and PU-SiO2, respectively. The structures of PU-PANI, PU-SiO2 and conducting polyurethane hybrids were confirmed by FT-IR, solid-state 13C, and 29Si NMR spectra. In nano-silica containing organic/inorganic conducting polyurethane hybrids, UV–vis spectra revealed the maximum absorption bands similar to that of PU-PANI. X-ray diffraction patterns indicated that these samples are typical of semicrystalline/amorphous materials. SEM image of PU-0.5PANI-0.5SiO2 showed that PANI was dispersed homogeneously and interconnected continuously in the insulating PU-silica matrix. TGA results of the polymer hybrids exhibited higher thermal stabilities and lower decomposition rates than that of PU-PANI both in nitrogen and air. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) studies indicated that the polyurethane hybrids had higher glass-transition temperatures (Tg) with the increase of PANI, but lower than that of PU-PANI. Stress–strain curves for all of the polyurethane hybrids showed the elastomeric behavior of typical polyurethanes. The surface resistivity values of all hybrids were about 108 ∼ 1010 Ω/sq. and might meet the requirement of the anti-electrostatic materials.