Polyurethanes with Narrow‐ and Polydisperse Hard Segment Distributions

Polyurethanes with narrow‐disperse (ND) and polydisperse (PD) hard segment (HS) distributions were prepared in a two‐step process. First, a poly(propylene oxide) end‐capped with MDI (4,4′methylenebis(phenyl isocyanate) was synthesized. To this prepolymer either a diamine–diamide was added to form ND HSs or a mixture of a diamine–diamide and additional MDI to form PD HSs in the copolymers. The polyurethanes displayed a ribbon‐like crystalline morphology, and it was found that the copolymers with ND HSs were more crystalline, had a higher modulus, a less temperature‐dependant modulus, and a higher melting temperature than their PD counterparts. Overall, the polyurethanes with the narrow‐dispersed HSs displayed superior properties. magnified image