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Thermoplastic Polyurethanes Softening in 37°C N-Saline

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 February 2011

Richard J. Zdrahala
Affiliation:
Deseret Polymer Research, Division of Warner-Lambert Co. P.O. Box 1285, Dayton, OH 45401
Charles W. Mcgary Jr.
Affiliation:
Deseret Polymer Research, Division of Warner-Lambert Co. P.O. Box 1285, Dayton, OH 45401
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Abstract

The softening of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) in the body environment represents one of the major advantages of these biomaterials. Although the literature contains an abundance of hydrolytic stability data, almost no information exists describing the softening of these materials in the body. A series of polyether-based TPUs, consequently, was synthesized based on 4,4′-diphenylmethane diisocyanate/1,4-butanediol hard segment and polytetramethylene ether glycol soft segment and the effect of simulated body environment (37°C n-saline) was studied as a function of the hard segment content and the soft segment glycol molecular weight. A mechanism and phenomenological analysis of this softening are offered and discussed in terms of TPU morphology. Both water and heat, for example, plasticize the TPU to increase the chain mobility; in the body environment this results in a reversible reduction in elastic modulus.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1986

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References

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