Polycaprolactone polyols are a special class of aliphatic polyester polyols, used in the soft block segment of high-performance polyurethane elastomers. The polycaprolactone polyols are produced with very low acid values (significantly improves hydrolytic stability), perfect hydroxyl end-group termination (excellent reactivity and high molecular weight control), narrow MW distributions (low viscosities including in the prepolymer form) and low glass transitions that affect good low temperature flexibility in polyurethane elastomers.
The caprolactone polyols are available in molecular weight grades from 310 to 4000, and are offered as diols, triols an tetraols. They are created by a Ring-Opening Polymerization (ROP) process under mild conditions using a “initiator” diol or triol and caprolactone monomer. The process is depicted below.
The initiator selected allows the design of customized features in the polycaprolactone polyols which are manifested in the performance of the resulting polyurethane elastomers.
While many initiator types are use, the following exemplifies the effects of three diol initiators used.
Gantrade experts can assist in the selection of the appropriate polycaprolactone polyol for your specific application.
The molecular features of the polycaprolactone polyols manifest themselves in polyurethanes characterized by the following property profiles, many of which are best-in-class performance attributes.
Our product line of Placcel® Polycaprolactone offers the following differentiated grades.
