Preamble:
Polyurea is manufactured by step-growth polymerization process and possesses two amine groups joined by a carbonyl functional group. The urea linkages are formed by the reaction of water and isocyanates that forms the intermediate compound of carbamic acid. Urea is an organic compound that is commonly found in urine. The isocyanate incorporated in the reaction process could be either aliphatic or aromatic in nature.
Diversified applications:
Polyurea has various applications in a diverse range of fields. They were manufactured earlier to furnish protection for tabletop edges. This has subsequently led to the development of Polyurea and polyurethane spray elastomers. Various coating requirements find these materials significantly suiting them. Hence, they are employed as coatings on huge surface area projects encompassing tank liners, manhole and tunnel coatings, truck bed liners and secondary containment. This has been ponderously attributed to their properties of fast reactivity and relative moisture insensitivity.
Favorable attributes of polyurea patronizing the applications:
Surface treatment procedures are carried out to acquire exceptional adhesion to concrete and steel. Due to their favorable properties, they could also be employed for armor and spray molding. The maximum strength reach for polyurea is of 400MPa (6000psi) tensile. The extension is over 500 percent, practically rendering the polyurea molecules as hard coating materials. The cure time relatively determines the construction time of coating materials. For instance, decreasing the cure time could subsequently reduce the manufacturing time.
Beneficiary properties:
Elastomers incorporating polyurea will have self-healing properties and consequently require no external force for melding of two segregated pieces from the parent material. This implies that no external agents like catalysts are employed to speed up the reaction. Polyurea elastomers based materials also include inexpensive commercially available compounds. The bonds between the molecules present in a polyurea material are tweaked and are consequently made longer.
Research progression in the molecular study of polyurea compounds:
Recent studies have divulged that rebonding could be accomplished again. Extensive self healing paints and other stretchy coating materials have gotten benefitted through this. The scientists who had been working on resolving this issue had employed “off-the-shell” components to furnish this effect without the additional requirement of any sort of catalyst or chemical.
Long term solutions for narrow boats:
Polyurea coatings have consistently replaced traditional coatings known as “blacking” used for narrow boats. These coating materials have become effective long term solution for narrow boats. Polyurea coatings are ponderously advantageous due to the fact that they don’t have to be replaced often. It is pondered that they could be replaced once in 25 years.