Synthesis of Hydrophilic Interpenetrating Polyurethane Networks with Hydrophilic Polymer

The purpose of this study is to give a hydrophilicity to the polyurethane (PU) by an introduction of interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) with hydrophilic poly (2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate). PUs were systhesized from a mixture of poly (oxytetramethylene) glycol (PTMG) and poly (oxyethylene) glycol (PEG), 4, 4\u27-diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI) and a mixture of 1, 4-butane diol (BD) and 1, 1, 1-trimethylolpropane (TMP) by a prepolymer method. The PUs obtained were immersed into a tetra-hydrofuran (THF) solution of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) and ethyleneglycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA), and then polymerized to form the IPN structure. Glass transition temperature (T_g) of the soft segment component and total weight of the PUs increased by an introduction of PHEMA. Contact angle measurement revealed the decreasing water contact angle for the IPN-PU. It was revealed than IPN with HEMA against the PUs is quite effective to give the hydrophilicity