Synthesis, characterization, and potential application of polyurethane foam as an effective alternative for dental aspiration substrate in liquid absorption/retention and mechanical properties

Abstract Tooth extraction will leave a wound that may cause blood leakage, and the application of liquid‐absorbing hemostatic cotton pressed on the wound can play the effect of pressure to halt bleeding. Unfortunately, the loose structure of the dental absorbent hemostatic cotton causes local slag to fall. Cotton fiber will impede wound heading and possibly drop into the throat and esophagus, thus impacting the life and health of the patient. Therefore, it is of great significance to prepare a material with toughness and high liquid absorption. The polyurethane foams (PUFs) with different chain extension coefficients synthesized from polyether polyol and diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI) with water as the blowing agent have excellent toughness and liquid‐absorbing properties with potential applications. The hydrophilic polyethylene glycol (PEG) is introduced into the polyurethane chain segment to form a synergistic effect with the three‐dimensional foam network structure to absorb more wound exudate. The hydrophobic PUFs can be applied to wounds with less exudate and the hydrophilic PUFs can be applied to chronic wounds with more exudate. The porous structure gives the PUF a strong loading capacity and promotes the wound‐healing effect. The PUFs exhibit good liquid absorption/retention performance in both 0.9 wt% NaCl solution and DI water, especially PUF‐1.10 has an ultimate DI water absorbency of nearly 840%. According to the performance, comparison of the current market commonly used dental absorbent hemostatic cotton; PUF‐1.10 is considered a promising candidate for replacing traditional dental commercial absorbent hemostatic slag‐fall cotton in liquid absorption/retention and mechanical properties.