Hydrolysis‐resistant polyurethane elastomers synthesized from hydrophobic bio‐based polyfarnesene diol

ABSTRACT Hydrolytic stability is an essential requirement for polyurethanes (PUs) that are used in highly humid and aqueous environments. In this study, hydrolysis‐resistant PU elastomers (PUEs) are synthesized based on hydrophobic bio‐based polyfarnesene diol (PFD), which contains unique “bottle brushes” structure (with long branched hydrocarbon side chains). The effect of hard segment (HS) content, ranging from 30 to 50%, on the morphology and properties of PUEs is investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, X‐ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, tensile, water absorption, and contact angle measurements. The results show that there are prominent phase separations in the synthesized PUEs. The PUEs show a three‐stage degradation process and two T g , one is at about −66 °C and the other 61 °C, which are related to the soft segment and HS, respectively. Water contact angles of PUEs increase from 98.6 to 105.2° with the increasing of PFD structural unit fraction. After being immersed in deionized water for 30 days, PUEs show no significant degradation of both tensile strength and elongation at break, and mass changes of all samples are less than 0.5%. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136 , 47673.