Interpenetrating polymer networks from caster oil‐based‐polyurethanes and poly(ethyl acrylate). VII

Liquid prepolyurethanes were synthesized from castor oil and toluene‐2, 4‐diisocyanate (TDI) under different experimental conditions and varying NCO/OH ratios. All these prepolyurethanes were subsequently reacted with ethyl acrylate/ethylene glycol dimethacrylate mixtures by radical polymerization using benzoyl peroxide as initiator to obtain interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs) by transfer molding. The novel polyurethane/poly(ethyl acrylate) IPNs are found to be tough films. These IPNs are characterized in terms of their resistance to chemical reagents, thermal behavior (DSC, TGA), mechanical behavior including tensile strength, Young's modulus, and elongation. The dielectric properties, namely electrical conductivity (σ), dielectric constant (ε′), dielectric loss (ε″), and loss tangent (tan δ) were computed. The mechanothermal behavior was analyzed by dynamic mechanical spectroscopy. The morphological behavior was studied by scanning electron microscopy.