Synthesis and physical properties of polyurethanes from saccharide-based polycaprolactones

Polyurethane (PU) sheets were prepared from glucose-, fructose- and sucrose-based polycaprolactones (PCL). The obtained saccharide-based PCL's were characterized by gel permeation chromatography, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The glass transition temperature, thermal degradation temperature, tensile strength, elongation and Young's modulus of the PU sheets were measured. The obtained results suggest that the molecular motion of PU's is enhanced with increasing fraction of PCL chains in PU molecules, and that at the same time the saccharide components act as hard segments.