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Improvement of Mechanical Properties and Self-Healing Efficiency by Ex-Situ Incorporation of TiO2 Nanoparticles to a Waterborne Poly(Urethane-Urea)

Group ‘Materials + Technologies’ (GMT), Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering of Gipuzkoa, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Pza Europa 1, 20018 Donostia-San Sebastian, Gipuzkoa, Spain
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Polymers 2019, 11(7), 1209; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym11071209
Received: 27 June 2019 / Revised: 15 July 2019 / Accepted: 16 July 2019 / Published: 19 July 2019
This research work was focused on the incorporation of TiO2 nanoparticles into synthesized solvent-free waterborne poly(urethane-urea) (WPUU) based on hydrophilic poly(ethylene oxide) (PU0) in order to improve both the mechanical properties and self-healing effectiveness of a polymer matrix. The incorporation of TiO2 nanoparticles resulted in a successful enhancement of the mechanical properties of nanocomposite films when compared to PU0. Simultaneously, the obtained nanocomposite films did not only maintain the self-healing ability of the PU0 film, measured by means of mechanical properties after successive cutting/recovery cycles, but they also showed a higher self-healing efficiency than the PU0 film. Moreover, the well-dispersed TiO2 nanoparticles, visualized by atomic force microscopy (AFM), kept their conductive properties when embedded in the PU0 matrix, as was confirmed by electrostatic force microscopy (EFM). This research work described a simple and industrially appealing way to control the dispersion of commercially available TiO2 nanoparticles in waterborne poly(urethane-urea) for the designing of inorganic/organic hybrid nanocomposites with enhanced mechanical properties and self-healing efficiency, in which TiO2 nanoparticles preserved their conductive properties within the polymer matrix. View Full-Text
Keywords: waterborne polyurethanes; titanium dioxide nanoparticles; nanocomposites; self-healing; conductive properties; mechanical properties waterborne polyurethanes; titanium dioxide nanoparticles; nanocomposites; self-healing; conductive properties; mechanical properties
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MDPI and ACS Style

Díez-García, I.; Eceiza, A.; Tercjak, A. Improvement of Mechanical Properties and Self-Healing Efficiency by Ex-Situ Incorporation of TiO2 Nanoparticles to a Waterborne Poly(Urethane-Urea). Polymers 2019, 11, 1209. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym11071209

AMA Style

Díez-García I, Eceiza A, Tercjak A. Improvement of Mechanical Properties and Self-Healing Efficiency by Ex-Situ Incorporation of TiO2 Nanoparticles to a Waterborne Poly(Urethane-Urea). Polymers. 2019; 11(7):1209. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym11071209

Chicago/Turabian Style

Díez-García, Iñigo, Arantxa Eceiza, and Agnieszka Tercjak. 2019. "Improvement of Mechanical Properties and Self-Healing Efficiency by Ex-Situ Incorporation of TiO2 Nanoparticles to a Waterborne Poly(Urethane-Urea)" Polymers 11, no. 7: 1209. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym11071209

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