Thesis (M.Sc.)--Chulalongkorn University, 2008

Copolyureas and polyurethane-ureas containing zinc and nickel dimethoxysaltrien complexes (MSalOMe2trien; M = Zn and Ni) in the main chain were synthesized by the reaction between MSalOMe2trien, diisocyanates and diamines or dialcohols, respectively. Diisocyanates employed were hexamethylene diisocyanate (HMDI) and 4,4'-diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI). Different aliphatic and aromatic diamines or dialcohols were employed to study the effect of the structure on the polymer properties. The polymers were characterized by IR, 1H-NMR and XRD. Thermal stability was examined by thermogravimetric analysis. The polymers were soluble in dimethyl formamide and dimethyl sulfoxide. MDI-based polymers showed higher solubility than HMDI-based polymers. Inherent viscosity of metal-containing copolyureas and polyurethane-ureas were found to be in the range 0.0791-0.0947 and 0.0797-0.1095 dL/g, respectively. The temperature at 5% weight loss (T5) and char yields at 600 C of the polymers were found to be in the range 253-293 C and 36-64%, respectively. Polyurethane-ureas showed higher thermal stability than copolyureas and zinc-containing polymers had higher thermal stability than nickel-containing polymers. The most thermally stable polymer, which was obtained from ZnSalOMe2trien, MDI and poly(ethylene glycol) showed T5 equal to initial decomposition temperature at 293 C and char yields at 600 C of 64%.