United States. A green polyurethane, which eliminates the use of isocyanates, has won the 2015 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award determined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Isocyanates are critical components used in conventional polyurethane products, such as coatings and foam.
However, exposure to isocyanates is known to cause skin and respiratory problems and prolonged exposure causes severe asthma and even death. Isocyanates are also toxic to wildlife. When burned, isocyanates form toxic and corrosive fumes, including nitrogen oxides and hydrogen cyanide. Because of these risks, isocyanates are regulated by the EPA and other government agencies.
To address the health and environmental risks associated with conventional polyurethanes, Hybrid Coating Technologies (HCT) has developed a polyurethane hybrid without isocyanate (HNIPU), also called "Green Polyurethane". HNIPU is formed from a reaction between the mixture of a mono/polycyclic carbonate and epoxy oligomers and aliphatic or cycloaliphatic polyamines with primary amino groups. The result is a cross-linked polymer with β-hydroxyurethane groups of different structure.
HCT developed a novel concept for the generation of new multifunctional modifiers for epoxy-amine "frió" curing compositions, i.e. hydroxyalkyl urethane (HUM) modifiers, and sequentially developed HUMs based on renewable raw materials (vegetable oils), which are now used for coatings based on UV and SPF curing acrylic polymers. The utilization of THE MIMs provides the cured composition with superior coating performance characteristics, including life/drying time, strength properties, binding to a variety of substrates and appearance.
