Chitin based polyurethanes using hydroxyl terminated polybutadiene, Part II: morphological studies

Abstract

Chitin-hydroxyl terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) based polyurethane (PU) was prepared and structure of the pre-designed PU was confirmed using FT-IR spectrometer. The FT-IR analysis confirmed that the crosslinking density increased with increasing the chitin contents in the final PU. During the detailed FT-IR study, it was observed that tri-functional character of chitin is responsible for the formation of network structure. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis also confirmed the cross-linked structure of the material. The amount of carbon, nitrogen and oxygen elements obtained from EDX-SEM microanalysis also supported the results. The resistance in solubility against the solvent also confirmed the crosslinking behavior of the prepared polyurethane.