High damping polyurethane elastomers with wide temperature ranges

Polyurethane elastomers are widely used in damping fields due to their notable structural tenability and vibration-damping capacity. However, the segmental mobility of polyurethane elastomer damping materials is predominantly effective within the glass transition region, presenting a challenge to achieving both a broad damping temperature range and a high damping factor. Herein, we synthesize novel polyurethane damping materials by introducing a vanillin-based chain extender (PUVs) composed of aromatic and dynamic imine bonds. The obtained PUVs endow sufficient segmental relaxation characteristics through π-π interactions within the molecular structure. Furthermore, the dynamic exchange of imine bonds ensures stable energy dissipation at elevated temperatures. The resulting optimized PUV exhibited a high damping factor (tanδ) of 1.49 and an effective damping temperature range (the range of tanδ > 0.3) of 101 °C (−25 °C–76 °C). Moreover, the damping factor remains consistently above 0.7 in most of the vibration temperature range of 10 °C–60 °C. The optimized PUV3 sample effectively reduced the vibration amplitude by 67.3 % when applied as a constrained damping layer in pipelines. This research demonstrates an outstanding thermoplastic polyurethane damping material, significantly expanding its potential application value.