EFFECT OF IONIC BONDING ON THE CONCENTRATION OF EFFECTIVE NETWORK CHAINS IN CROSSLINKED POLYURETHANE IONENES.

The phase separated structures of crosslinked polyurethane ionenes with different lengths of ionene segments were studied. The contributions of ionic bonds in the concentration of effective network chains, nu //e/V, which were estimated from stress-strain measurements, were separated from those of covalent bonds. A relation between the primary nu //e/V and the degree of phase separation estimated from dynamic mechanical measurements was noticed. As the degree of phase separation increased, the primary nu //e/V decreased in DBH series and increased in XDC series. These different trends in the primary nu //e/V arise from the different sizes of ionic domains in the two series of polyurethane ionenes.