2026-10-12T17:50:17Z https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai

oai:figshare.com:article/33981678 2026-09-24T11:19:59Z category_1 category_4 category_7 category_14 category_19 category_21 category_873 category_39 category_734 category_61 category_135 portal_63 item_type_2 month_year_09_2026

Sustainable, Degradable, and Flame-Retardant Polyurethane Elastomer Enabled by Sustainable Chain Extender and Reactive Fire-Retardant Wanli Nie (2105143) Duanguang Yang (1807186) Bei Liu (311802) Hongbiao Chen (554315) Mei Yang (51996) Yijiang Liu (1463026) Huaming Li (554316) Biophysics Biochemistry Medicine Molecular Biology Pharmacology Biotechnology Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified Ecology Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified Developmental Biology Computational Biology strong adhesion capability robust mechanical strength great practical significance edible biomass sugars 0 flammability rating high tensile strength high rebound resilience high peel strength glyoxylic acid recovered excellent comprehensive properties undergo complete degradation sustainable chain extender 1 n cm generation sustainable elastomers intrinsic flame retardancy high toughness high elongation polyurethane elastomers fire retardancy chemical properties acid degradability partial degradation degradation products vinyl chloride urethane bonds target elastomer study provides reactive fire rationally engineered polyurethane backbone opening avenues feasible strategy dynamic hydrogen demonstrates self acidic solutions 9 mj The development of polyurethane elastomers with excellent comprehensive properties, such as robust mechanical strength, high rebound resilience, fire retardancy, and aqueous degradability, is of great practical significance. Herein, we report the design and synthesis of a polyurethane elastomer exhibiting outstanding mechanical, thermal, and chemical properties, including high mechanical performance, intrinsic flame retardancy, strong adhesion capability, and aqueous and acid degradability. Specifically, a xylose-derived degradable chain extender (DHGX) and a P/N-containing reactive flame retardant (BHP) are rationally engineered into the polyurethane backbone to prepare the target elastomer (PU-DHGX-BHP). The as-prepared PU-DHGX-BHP exhibits a high tensile strength of 11.5 MPa, together with a high elongation at break of 1018% and a high toughness of 46.9 MJ m^–3. Moreover, PU-DHGX-BHP achieves a V-0 flammability rating and demonstrates self-extinguishing behavior within 0.5 s. Owing to the dynamic hydrogen-bonding and π–π stacking interactions, PU-DHGX-BHP exhibits strong adhesion toward polar substrates, with a high peel strength of 41.1 N cm^–1 on poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) substrate. Furthermore, the incorporation of DHGX structures and urethane bonds into the polymer backbone enables PU-DHGX-BHP to undergo complete degradation in acidic solutions and partial degradation in aqueous environments, with xylose and glyoxylic acid recovered as degradation products. This study provides a feasible strategy for the development of degradable polyurethane elastomers derived from non-edible biomass sugars, opening avenues for the design of next-generation sustainable elastomers. 2026-09-24T00:00:00Z Dataset Media 10.1021/acsapm.6c03049.s001 https://figshare.com/articles/media/Sustainable_Degradable_and_Flame-Retardant_Polyurethane_Elastomer_Enabled_by_Sustainable_Chain_Extender_and_Reactive_Fire-Retardant/33981678 CC BY-NC 4.0