WETTABILITY OF CELLULAR POLYURETHANE

1Cellular polymers constitute an important field of investigation due to their unique properties as shock absorbers and thermal or acoustic insulators. The knowledge of the wetting properties of these materials is important in applications where adhesion or weathering behavior ar e an issue. In this study, cellular polyurethane polymers were used to investigate the effect of the cellular structure on the wetting prope rties. The polymeric substrates were analyzed by scanning electron mic roscopy and the wetting properties were studied by goniometry. The con tact angles of water and diiodomethane were measured as a function of time and the surface tension of the expanded polymers was evaluated by the geometric and harmonic mean methods. It was found that the wettab ility and the surface energy of the cellular polymers increase as the density decreases. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.