Poly(benzoxazine-co-urethane)s: A new concept for phenolic/urethane copolymers via one-pot method

Historically, applications for traditional phenolic resin/polyurethane materials are limited due to the inherently weak thermal stability of urethane-phenolic linkage and slow reaction rate. A novel concept has been developed to produce phenolic resin/polyurethane copolymers via benzoxazine chemistry. Through one-pot synthesis, a series of linear poly(benzoxazine-co-urethane) materials has been synthesized via the reaction of a newly developed dimethylol functional benzoxazine monomer with 4,4′-methylene diphenyl diisocyanate and poly(1,4-butyleneadipate). The structure of the copolymers has been characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR). The copolymers in the film forms have been further thermally treated for crosslinking to produce crosslinked poly(benzoxazine-co-urethane) via the ring opening polymerization of cyclic benzoxazine moieties in the main-chain. The tensile properties of the films have been studied and compared with those of traditional high performance materials. The thermal properties of the crosslinked copolymers have also been studied by dynamic mechanical analysis, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA).