Properties of UV‐curable polyurethane acrylates: Effect of reactive diluent

Abstract

Abstract Several families of UV‐cured polyurethane acrylates were synthesized, and the effects of reactive diluent type and content on their physical properties were investigated. Increasing reactive diluent content promoted the development of a second, high glass transition temperature phase in all the materials, thereby leading to increased strength and modulus. Changes in the extensibility of the samples upon addition of reactive diluent were inversely related to the effect of the diluent on the crosslink density. The effects of using different reactive diluents (di‐, tri‐, and tetraethylene glycol diacrylate and N ‐vinyl pyrrolidone) on the physical properties of the samples were attributed to differences in the softening point ( T g ) of the homopolymer reactive diluents and the relative compatibility of the reactive diluents with the urethane acrylate segments.