Preparation and Properties of Translucent Suspension Chain Polyurethane With a Broad Damping Temperature Range at Near Room Temperature

ABSTRACT Developing a viscoelastic polymer damping material with a broad range of effective damping temperatures at room temperature and multiple functionalities has been a prominent research focus, possessing significant economic and social importance. Herein, the elastic main chain was synthesized using branched polyester polyol (DPH) and isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI). The suspension chain prepolymer was fabricated with monohydroxy long alkyl‐chain hydroxy silicone oil (OH‐PDMS) and IPDI. Translucent and damping branched polyurethane viscoelastic materials (BPUs) were prepared by reacting the elastic main chain and the suspension chain prepolymer with the cross‐linking agent trimethylolpropane (TMP). The influences of introducing suspension chains and their content within the polyurethane structure on the damping, mechanical, dynamic mechanical, thermomechanical, and water resistance properties of the polyurethane were comprehensively investigated. The experimental results indicate that the damping factor (Tan δ max ) of polyurethane decreases from 1.17 to 0.91 with the addition of suspension chain. Then, with the increase of suspension chain content, the damping factor (Tan δ max ) decreases slightly. The damping factor (Tan δ max ) still reaches 0.84 with 66% suspension chain content. At the same time, the effective damping temperature range gradually increases from 56.4°C to 119.4°C. The glass transition temperature decreased from 58.9°C to 27.8°C, enhancing the damping performance at room temperature. It was discovered that introducing suspension chains with the SiOSi structure would delay the decomposition of soft segments and enhance heat resistance. Additionally, when the content of the suspension chain is raised to 66%, the hydrophobicity of polyurethane reaches the maximum level and the elongation at break attains 423% ± 12%.