The thermal degradation of aqueous polyurethanes with catalysts of different selectivity

The thermal stability of aqueous polyurethanes has been measured by applying the thermogravimetric analysis. The aqueous polyurethanes (aqPUR) with catalysts of different selectivity have been studied by use of the dynamic method. To obtain degradations of 0.025, 0.05 and 0.10, employing the dynamic method, the heating rates of 0.5, 1, 2, 5 and 10 °C min−1 have been used in the range of 30–500 °C. Using the more selective catalysts in the aqueous polyurethanes the total resulting time of the decomposition has increased at all degradation degrees and at all temperatures. This paper shows that the dynamic method based on the thermogravimetric analysis can be used to assess the thermal stability of the aqueous polyurethanes using the catalysts of different selectivity.