Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
8.0
4.7
Journals
Polymers
Special Issues
Polyurethane Materials for Multifunctional Applications
polymers-logo
Submit to Special Issue Submit Abstract to Special Issue Review for Polymers Propose a Special Issue

Journal Menu

► Journal Menu

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser
share announcement

Polyurethane Materials for Multifunctional Applications

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Composites and Nanocomposites".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2025 | Viewed by 5357

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Ivan Ristic

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Materials Engineering, Faculty of Technology, University of Novi Sad, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
Interests: polymer synthesis; polyurethanes; polylactide; biodegradable polymers
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Suzana M. Cakić

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Technology Leskovac, University of Nis, 16000 Leskovac, Serbia
Interests: polyurethanes; waterborne PU; biodegradable materials; polymer synthesis

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Recently, polyurethanes (PUs) have attracted a great deal of research interest due to their segmented block copolymeric character, which endows them with a wide ranging versatility in terms of their physical properties and biocompatibility. The production of polyurethanes (PUs) with specific functional properties is possible through the appropriate selection of the type and concentrations of reactive components (polyol and isocyanate), and building on advances in PU chemistry research. These combinations enable a material with specific mechanical parameters as well as different levels of resistivity and biocompatibility, depending on the needs of the final application, to be obtained. Consequently, PU materials can be tailored to the desired and most specific applications. According to the survey conducted by Covestro in 2019, the global demand for PUs had reached an estimated 18.4 million tons, and is forecast to increase to 22.5 million tons by 2024. This means that, in 2021, the PU market reached a value of more than USD 80 billion.

Polyurethane-based materials may be available in different forms: flexible or rigid foams and uses including one-component and two-component adhesives, sealants, elastomers, polyurethane coatings, and medical and biomedical devices. Owing to their biocompatibility, possible biodegradability (PUs based on renewable resources), excellent mechanical strength, and adjustable physical forms, PUs deployed to serve a wide range of applications, especially in the field of biomedicine, have garnered significant research attention in recent years. The synthesis of biocompatible polyurethane is of immense interest in the biomedical and pharmaceutical fields; however, the properties of these materials must be fine-tuned in order to prevent negative effects on the surrounding tissue. Initially used for long-term implants, now a new class of bioresorbable polyurethane materials has been developed.

This Special Issue is fully aligned with the objectives of the sustainable development of new classes of polymers, particularly the adherent scientific and industrial priorities, through the development of innovative PU materials for high-value applications. This means that the development of new, safer, and more sustainable alternatives in many applications enables the development of innovative products that seek to fulfil the needs of contemporary society. 

Dr. Ivan Ristic
Prof. Dr. Suzana M. Cakić
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • polyurethanes
  • biobased polymer
  • 3D printable PU
  • biodegradable PU
  • biomedical PU
  • coatings
  • shape memory polymer

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (4 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

17 pages, 6023 KiB  
Article
Covalent Grafting of Quaternary Ammonium Salt-Containing Polyurethane onto Silicone Substrates to Enhance Bacterial Contact-Killing Ability
by Zihong Pan, Zixu Liu, Sijia Yang, Zhanyu Shen, Yuchen Wu, Yanyu Liu, Jingfan Li and Liang Wang
Polymers 2025, 17(1), 17; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym17010017 - 25 Dec 2024
Viewed by 784
Abstract
Catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) induced by rapid bacterial colonization and biofilm formation on urinary catheters is a key issue that urgently needs to be addressed. To prevent CAUTI, many contact-killing, non-leaching coatings have been developed for the surfaces of silicone catheters. However, [...] Read more.
Catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) induced by rapid bacterial colonization and biofilm formation on urinary catheters is a key issue that urgently needs to be addressed. To prevent CAUTI, many contact-killing, non-leaching coatings have been developed for the surfaces of silicone catheters. However, due to the chemical inertness of the silicone substrate, most current coatings lack adhesion and are unstable under external forces. Thus, the aim of this study was to develop a surface coating that has both good antibacterial ability and a high affinity toward silicone substrates. To achieve high affinity, a pre-coating layer with abundant surface vinyl groups, named SI-vinyl, was prepared on the silicone substrate by moisture curing using a mixture of α,ω-dihydroxy polydimethylsiloxane and vinyltrimethoxysilane as the painting agent. To endow the surface with contact-killing ability, a series of polyurethanes with different contents of quaternary ammonium salt groups in their main chain and two vinyl end groups were synthesized and covalently grafted onto the surface of SI-vinyl, resulting in corresponding bactericidal coatings with different surface contents of quaternary ammonium salt groups (SI-QAS). Of these bactericidal coatings, SI-QAS-2, with a surface QAS content of 2.1 × 1016 N+ cm−2, was selected as the best coating based on the consideration of stability, compatibility, and antibacterial ability. The SI-QAS-2 coating demonstrated high contact-killing performance, rapidly inactivating 72.8%, 99.9%, and 98.9% of Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa within 30 min. Furthermore, even after being exposed to a high concentration of bacteria (106 CFU/mL) for 4 days, the SI-QAS-2 coating still maintained a high bactericidal ratio of over 80%. In summary, we developed a novel contact-killing coating that reduces the risk of bacterial infections caused by catheter implantation, demonstrating that it has high affinity toward silicone substrates, excellent contact-killing efficiency, a facile preparation method, and potential for further application. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polyurethane Materials for Multifunctional Applications)
►▼ Show Figures

Graphical abstract

13 pages, 3458 KiB  
Article
A Novel Polytetrahydrofuran-Based Shape Memory Polyurethane Enhanced by Polyglycolide-Block-Polytetrahydrofuran-Block-Polyglycolide Copolymer
by Xin Li, Lingchen Mao, Weiqian Li, Han Wu, Suyang Dai, Rui Xiao, Jiayi Huang, Guodong Liu, Keda Yang, Wensheng Bu, Ni Jiang, Zhihua Gan and Zhenbo Ning
Polymers 2024, 16(24), 3610; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16243610 - 23 Dec 2024
Viewed by 681
Abstract
A series of polyurethanes (PU-GT) were prepared using polyglycolide-block-polytetrahydrofuran-block-polyglycolide (PGA-PTHF-PGA), polytetrahydrofuran homopolymer (PTHF), glycerol, and hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI) by a one-pot synthesis method. The non-isothermal crystallization and subsequent heating curves showed that the PTHF component in these polyurethanes could crystallize in a temperature [...] Read more.
A series of polyurethanes (PU-GT) were prepared using polyglycolide-block-polytetrahydrofuran-block-polyglycolide (PGA-PTHF-PGA), polytetrahydrofuran homopolymer (PTHF), glycerol, and hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI) by a one-pot synthesis method. The non-isothermal crystallization and subsequent heating curves showed that the PTHF component in these polyurethanes could crystallize in a temperature range of −11.5~2.6 °C during the cooling process, and the melting temperatures of PTHF crystallites were in the range of 24.0~26.9 °C. The WAXD results implied that a small content of PGA could crystallize in the membranes of PU-GT polyurethanes. And compared with PU-GT-100, which did not contain the PGA-PTHF-PGA block polymer, other PU-GT polyurethanes showed excellent mechanical properties because of the existence of the PGA component. Moreover, these polyurethanes had temperature-responsive shape memory properties due to the PTHF crystallites. The temporary shape could be fixed at −20 °C and recovered to the permanent shape at 37 °C. We conducted two kinds of conceptual experiments using PU-GT-50 polyurethane, which showed its great potential for medical applications in vascular and wound repair. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polyurethane Materials for Multifunctional Applications)
►▼ Show Figures

Graphical abstract

15 pages, 5076 KiB  
Article
High-Value and Environmentally Friendly Recycling Method for Coal-Based Solid Waste Based on Polyurethane Composite Materials
by Xu Li, Yang Liu, Mingyi Li, Sitong Zhang, Lan Jia, Fengbo Zhu and Wenwen Yu
Polymers 2024, 16(14), 2044; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16142044 - 17 Jul 2024
Viewed by 1110
Abstract
This study aims to provide a high-value and environmentally friendly method for the application of coal-based solid waste. Modified fly ash/polyurethane (MFA/PU) and modified coal gangue powder/polyurethane (MCG/PU) composites were prepared by adding different contents of MFA and MCG (10%, 20%, 30%, 40%). [...] Read more.
This study aims to provide a high-value and environmentally friendly method for the application of coal-based solid waste. Modified fly ash/polyurethane (MFA/PU) and modified coal gangue powder/polyurethane (MCG/PU) composites were prepared by adding different contents of MFA and MCG (10%, 20%, 30%, 40%). At the filler content of 30%, the compressive strengths of MFA/PU and MCG/PU are 84.1 MPa and 46.3 MPa, respectively, likely due to an improvement in interface compatibility, as indicated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The MFA/PU and MCG/PU composites present their highest limiting oxygen index (LOI) values of 29% and 23.5%, respectively, when their filler content is 30%. MFA has advantages in improving the LOIs of composites. Cone calorimetry (CCT) and SEM demonstrate that the two composites exhibit similar condensed-phase flame-retardant behaviors during combustion, which releases CO2 in advance and accelerates the formation of a dense barrier layer. Compared with the MFA/PU composites, the MCG/PU composites could produce a more stable and dense barrier structure. Water quality tests show that heavy metals do not leak from FA and CG embedded in PU. This work provided a new strategy for the safe and high-value recycling of coal-based solid waste. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polyurethane Materials for Multifunctional Applications)
►▼ Show Figures

Graphical abstract

20 pages, 8247 KiB  
Article
Fabrication of Polycaprolactone-Based Polyurethanes with Enhanced Thermal Stability
by Jasna V. Džunuzović, Ivan S. Stefanović, Enis S. Džunuzović, Tijana S. Kovač, Dušan P. Malenov, Andrea Basagni and Carla Marega
Polymers 2024, 16(13), 1812; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16131812 - 26 Jun 2024
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1957
Abstract
The benefit of being acquainted with thermal properties, especially the thermal stability of polyurethanes (PU), and simplified methods for their improvement is manifold. Considering this, the effect of embedding different amounts of unmodified and surface-modified TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) within PU, based on [...] Read more.
The benefit of being acquainted with thermal properties, especially the thermal stability of polyurethanes (PU), and simplified methods for their improvement is manifold. Considering this, the effect of embedding different amounts of unmodified and surface-modified TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) within PU, based on polycaprolactone (PCL) and Boltorn® aliphatic hyperbranched polyester, on PU properties was investigated. Results obtained via scanning electron microscopy, swelling measurements, mechanical tests and thermogravimetric analysis revealed that TiO2 NPs can be primarily applied to improve the thermal performance of PU. Through surface modification of TiO2 NPs with an amphiphilic gallic acid ester containing a C12 long alkyl chain (lauryl gallate), the impact on thermal stability of PU was greater due to the better dispersion of modified TiO2 NPs in the PU matrix compared to the unmodified ones. Also, the distinct shape of DTG peaks of the composite prepared using modified TiO2 NPs indicates that applied nano-filler is mostly embedded in soft segments of PU, leading to the delay in thermal degradation of PCL, simultaneously improving the overall thermal stability of PU. In order to further explore the thermal degradation process of the prepared composites and prove the dominant role of incorporated TiO2 NPs in the course of thermal stability of PU, various iso-conversional model-free methods were applied. The evaluated apparent activation energy of the thermal degradation reaction at different conversions clearly confirmed the positive impact of TiO2 NPs on the thermal stability and aging resistance of PU. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polyurethane Materials for Multifunctional Applications)
►▼ Show Figures

Graphical abstract

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-4
Back to TopTop