Collagen incorporation into waterborne polyurethane improves breathability, mechanical property, and self-healing ability

Since the demand for high performance products is ever growing, to combine the characteristics of biomaterials and synthetic polymers through a facile method may stand out as a forerunner to the materials design and application. Herein, waterborne polyurethane/collagen (WPU/CO) composites were prepared by a green facile method. Interactions between collagen and polyurethane segments lead to hybrid domain with high modulus within WPU/CO composites. Such bonding effect making obtained compounding system more tolerant of multiple stretching and external force. Owing to presence of collagen fibrils, WPU/CO coatings exhibited superior temperature-adaptive water vapor permeability and hydrophilicity. Moreover, compares to pure WPU, WPU/CO composite containing 5.4 wt% collagen showed significantly enhanced self-healing ability with healing efficiency of strain and tensile stress improved by 651% and 86% respectively. These properties are believed to benefit application of WPU/CO composites as comfort functional materials.