+ 2023 IONICOAT – Design of a new generation of multifunctional ionic polyhydroxyurethanes as surface coatings

RESUME

The European Union (EU) and the socio-technical pressure foster the Industry to minimize the environmental impact of the products by designing sustainable solutions to meet the requirements of the circular economy. The recycling of industrially produced green-house gases such as CO2 into high value-added chemicals is one of the most relevant strategy to reach climate targets. Moreover, CO2 is an inexpensive, non-toxic, non-flammable, and abundant carbon resource, rendering its use in polymer synthesis economically viable at the industrial scale.

Currently, conventional isocyanate-based polyurethane networks which are not reprocessable represent a market value of 51,2 Billion€, mainly for coating and foaming applications. Representing an emerging class of thermosetting polymers, polyhydroxyurethanes (PHUs) also named non-isocyanate polyurethanes (NIPUs), can be synthesized via a catalyst-free polyaddition reaction between cyclic carbonates with diamines. However, these polymer materials have many disadvantages compared to conventional polyurethanes (PU) such as a low glass transition temperature, poor mechanical properties, and sometimes a high sensitivity to water due to the presence of hydroxyl groups in their microstructure. Very recently, ionic liquids (ILs) represent a real opportunity to design new smart and (multi)functional-dedicated polymers with enhanced properties such as thermal stability, mechanical performances, gas and water barrier properties combined with a potential for CO2-capture.

Based on the large expertise of our laboratory on their association with polymers, an original and innovative approach for designing and processing totally unprecedent smart PHU networks based on a new generation of cyclic carbonate IL-based monomers via cycloaddition of CO2 will be developed for coatings applications.