LAUSR

A series of poly(urethane-urea-amide) thermoplastic elastomers (PUUAs) based on polytetrahydrofuran (polytetramethylene glycol, PTMG), nylon-6 and 4,4′-diphenylmethane diisocyanate were synthesized through reactive processing. This method solved the incompatibility of nylon-6 and PTMG, and these model elastomers were used to gain insight into the structure–property relations of block polymers. The target products were solvent resistant, transparent and melting-processable. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, XRD, DSC, TEM, dynamic mechanical analysis, tensile testing and TGA were used to study the structure, crystallization, morphology, mechanical properties and thermostability of the PUUAs. The Fourier transform infrared results proved the successful preparation of PUUAs from nylon-6 and PTMG. TEM examination showed that all samples exhibit microphase separated morphology with the nylon-6 domain dispersed in the PTMG phase. The results of tensile testing indicated that the elastomers exhibit excellent mechanical properties with stress at break and strain at break exceeding 40 MPa and 600% respectively. The TGA results implied that the PUUAs can be fabricated by transitional processing at proper temperature without any thermodegradation. These favorable features were related to the microphase separated structure of the PUUAs. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry