What are the advantages of waterborne polyurethane over traditional materials?
Polyurethane (PU) is a kind of organic polymeric compounds containing repeated carbamate group (NHCOO) in the main chain.Polyurethane polymer materials have the advantages of wear resistance, high temperature resistance, good adhesion, easy processing, low price, but some polyurethane water resistance, heat resistance is poor, need to be modified by specific methods, in order to achieve the purpose of optimization.Waterborne polyurethane (WPU) uses water as the dispersion medium, avoiding the traditional organic solvents serious pollution, harm to human health and other shortcomings, at the same time save a lot of organic solvents, greatly reducing the cost. With the continuous improvement of people's environmental awareness, environmental protection laws and regulations are becoming more and more perfect. Waterborne polyurethane has become a hot topic. Based on its advantages of non-combustible, high safety and easy modification, it is widely used in coatings, adhesives, fabric finishing agents and coating agents. ① Water-based polyurethane coating completely or basically contains no solvent, no odor, no pollution, has the advantages of non-combustible, low cost, can be diluted directly with water when using, easy to use, easy to clean. ②The viscosity of waterborne polyurethane does not vary significantly with the change of polymer relative molecular weight. High molecular weight waterborne polyurethane can be prepared at low viscosity, which is very favorable for improving the cohesion strength of resin. The viscosity of solvent-based polymers increased exponentially with the increase of molecular weight, and gels were easily produced when the molecular weight was larger. ③The viscosity of waterborne polyurethane is generally lower than that of solvent type. The smaller the dispersion diameter of waterborne polyurethane is, the greater the viscosity is. The viscosity of solvent-based polyurethane increases obviously with the increase of solid content. The viscosity of solvent-based polymer can be adjusted by controlling solid content or solvent amount, while the viscosity of waterborne polyurethane needs to be adjusted by thickening agent. ④Water-based polyurethane has good compatibility with a variety of water-based resins, and can be mixed to improve performance or reduce cost. It is necessary to select water-based resins that match the charge properties and acid-base of ionic waterborne polyurethane, otherwise condensation may occur. Due to the compatibility of polymers and the solubility of resins in solvents, solvent-based polyurethanes can not be blended with other resins. Compared with organic solvent polyurethane coatings, waterborne polyurethane coatings have the advantages of low application cost, pollution-free, easy handling and good bonding effect. It has a good development prospect in adhesives and coatings industry. Therefore, according to the statistical data, it is predicted that the domestic consumption of water-based pol...
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