Macromolecules, Vol.50, No.20, 8274-8278, 2017
Vitrification and Density Scaling of Polyurea at Pressures up to 6 GPa
Elastomeric polyurea is an important polymer for impact mitigation, but viscoelasticity, nonlinearity, pressure-effects, and the onset of the glass transition complicate analyses of experimental measurements. Consequently, development efforts rely on modeling, which in turn requires accurate potential functions. To address this issue, we measured the glass transition, Tg, of polyurea at pressures up to 6 GPa in a diamond anvil cell. In this method, Tg is determined as the lowest temperature at which the pressure is hydrostatic. From the pressure dependence of T-g, in combination with equation of state measurements at pressures up to 1 GPa, the density scaling exponent for the polyurea was obtained. The value 2.39 +/- 0:06 is in accord with previous determinations based on lower pressure experiments; thus, density scaling remains valid for density changes as large as 50%. The scaling exponent reflects the steepness of the intermolecular repulsive potential and should serve as a guide to the choice of potential parameters for simulations of the high strain rate, high pressure dynamics of the material.