Synthesis of a novel hydrophobic polyurea gel from CO2 and amino-modified polysiloxane

- A kind of polyurea hydrophobic gel was prepared for the first time.
- CO2 was used as carbon resources to replace of toxic isocyanate.
- The polyurea was hydrophobic and could absorb some organic solvents.
- The polyurea could separate organic solvent from polluted water.

Carbon dioxide, as a carbonyl source to replace the highly toxic isocyanate, was used to prepare a new type of polyurea with amino modified polysiloxane in this work. The formation of both the modified polysiloxane and polyureas were confirmed by FT-IR spectra, 1H NMR spectrum and 13C NMR spectrum. The thermo-stability, solubility as well as the hydrophilicity was examined; the polysiloxane could be soluble in several polar solvents like acetone, THF, ethanol and so on. The polyureas are stable at temperature lower than 150 °C, and the synthesized polyureas are hydrophobic as they have a water contact angles larger than 90°. Moreover, the polyurea containing high urea linkage content presented excellent absorption for some organic solvents, such as C2H3Cl3, thus it is expected to have an application in removing organic pollutants on river.

A kind of hydrophobic polyurea gel was synthesized by an isocyanate-free route via carbon dioxide and amino modified polysiloxane. The polyureas was hydrophobic and could absorb some organic solvents, and it is expected to have a promising application in the commercial removal of organic pollutants in water.172