Associative polyurethane (PU) thickener has been synthesized by preparing the prepolymer with the reaction of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI), which then end-capping with long-chain alkanol. The synthesis process, as well as hydrophilic chain length, theoretical molecular weight, solvent ratio, and thickener percentages, has been researched. The results shows that it reaches the upmost thickening effect when the theoretical molecular weight is under 20000, soft-segment length is under 4000, solvent ratio is 1 : 1, and thickener percentages are controlled at 10%. Furthermore, thickening mechanism of PU thickener has been analyzed detailedly through the measurement of the critical micelle concentration (CMC) of PU thickener and analysis of the influence of PU thickener on the particle size and morphology of PU dispersions. It has been observed from the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) that the PU aqueous dispersions produce a certain degree of flocculation when the PU thickener was added, and this flocculation structure has been proved to be a thixotropic structure through the characterization of the change of particle size before and after the thickener is introduced into the PU aqueous dispersions. The CMC measurement results present that the thickening effect will be apparent when the concentration is controlled in a low range.
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