What is the use of water-based polyurethane? What are the main application areas?

1. Clothing and sporting goods
Polyurethane is widely used in the apparel industry. Its representative products are high elastic fibers and leather products that are comfortable to wear, soft, stretchable, and flexible in design. In addition to being used in women's underwear, pantyhose and socks, its amazing stretch properties are fully utilized in ski shirts and swimwear. In addition, in sports goods such as skis and sailboats, polyurethane coatings with excellent wear resistance and weather resistance are used; skis, surfboards, etc. use rigid foam with light weight and excellent wear resistance as the core material; Elastomers with excellent elasticity and abrasion resistance are also used in the soles of sports shoes.








2. Daily necessities
In the home, the use of polyurethane products has created a comfortable living environment for us. Polyurethane coatings impart a beautiful sheen to the surfaces of furniture, pianos, and other musical instruments and provide strong protection. Soft foam is widely used in seat cushion materials, and is also used in health quilts to disperse the pressure on the human body. In the kitchen, rigid foam is used as a heat insulating material for refrigerators, etc., and polyurethane resins with good adhesion to plastic films are used as adhesives for food packaging. In addition, in products such as sealing materials for water purifiers, paper diapers, and sanitary napkins, the use of elastomers that are harmless to the human body is also expanding. In our daily life, polyurethane artificial leather, synthetic leather, and foam are used in bags and footwear, and have won praise for their natural feel and durability.

3. Electronic products
Promoting the development of the electronics industry is the mission of Polyurethanes. Polyurethane adhesives with excellent abrasion resistance and adhesion are used in audio tapes, video tapes, computer disks, recharge cards and electronic tickets, and as magnetic adhesives for various recording media, increasing the recording density. In addition, as insulating sealing materials, varnishes are used in urethane enameled wires, and ultraviolet curing (UV) urethane rubbers are used in optical fiber cables. In recent years, polyurethane adhesives have been used in printed circuits of mobile phones, and research on application development is making great progress in response to the needs of the times.
 
4. Medical machinery
Polyurethane has also contributed to the advancement of medical care. Polyurethane elastomer has excellent human adaptability, adhesion and antithrombotic properties due to its special structure, and is used as the best sealing material to fix hollow filament bundles of artificial kidneys. At present, the research and development work of further improving the antithrombotic properties and human adaptability and applying it to artificial heart and artificial skin is also very active.

5. Vehicles and other means of transport
The automobile industry requires future cars to have comfortable living performance, safety performance, and can improve fuel consumption and protect the environment, and these performances are inseparable from polyurethane. Various polyurethanes are widely used in all aspects of automobiles. In addition to roof materials with thermal insulation and sound insulation, car seat cushions to ensure comfortable driving, noise and vibration isolation, and car bottom materials and sealing materials to maintain quiet space, etc. It also plays a role in panels, door trims, cowl panels, seat backs, fenders, shock absorbers, oil seals, non-puncture tires, and coatings. In addition, tire chains made of polyurethane have attracted attention because of their durability, good wear resistance, and no damage to the ground. Polyurethane coatings have excellent durability and weather resistance, and are used in bicycles, motorcycles, light rail cars, Shinkansen and ships.

6. Construction and civil engineering
In the fields of construction and civil engineering, the characteristics of polyurethane have also been fully utilized. In residential areas, rigid foam is used as the best thermal insulation material in walls, floors and roofs, which greatly reduces the supply burden of heating and cooling and meets energy-saving requirements. Polyurethane coatings have excellent weather resistance and are suitable for exterior wall coatings for residential decoration. Using its water resistance, chemical resistance and appropriate elasticity, it can be used as floor coatings for hospitals, gymnasiums and other buildings, anti-rust coatings for high-rise buildings and bridge piers, buffer materials between sleepers and rails, waterproof sealing materials for building roofs, And the adhesive for the body of the wooden prefabricated house is widely used, in addition, it is also used in the construction of all-weather runways and golf courses.

7. Industrial materials
The application in industrial materials is also a side that cannot be ignored by polyurethane. For example, after obtaining the best abrasion resistance through molecular design, elastomers can be used in copiers, printers and other office machines, paper making, iron making, electroplating and other rollers, and can be made into various conveyor belts, hoses, films and film materials. The development of processing technology is also very active. In addition, because polyurethane has excellent thermal insulation effect and durability, it is used as thermal insulation material and thermal insulation material in LNG tanker and ground storage tank facilities. Polyurethane adhesives are widely used for gluing particleboard and MDF to avoid the release of formaldehyde in residential buildings.