| This dissertation discusses the synthesis and characterization of environmentally-friendly waterborne vegetable oil-based polyurethane dispersions and their resulting films. The thermal and mechanical properties of the polyurethane films have been studied using tensile testing, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, and dynamic mechanical analysis. The cationic polyurethane dispersions have potential applications as coatings for food packaging materials due to their antimicrobial activity. Grafted hybrid latexes have been prepared by grafting vinyl monomers onto the polyurethane dispersions via seeded emulsion. |
