How to deal with the hydrolysis problem of PU artificial leather?

With the application of non-woven fabric technology in artificial leather processing, PU synthetic leather has a network structure similar to natural leather. The appearance, internal structure and physical properties of synthetic leather are closer to natural leather.

PU synthetic leather is widely used in sofas and other household fields because of its excellent wear resistance and comfortable feel, but its hydrolysis problem has always plagued manufacturers, and it has made the majority of users worry about the quality of the products. The process of breaking down polymers into small molecular substances in water and moisture environment is called hydrolysis. The hydrolysis of PU will lead to a series of problems in the product, which will bring a lot of inconvenience to downstream customers, such as skin cracking, delamination, sharp decline in product physical properties, and poor hand feel. If these problems cannot be solved well, it will be greatly limited The development of PU in the field of high-end home furnishing. So, how to prevent the hydrolysis of PU artificial leather products?

The first step is, usually PU artificial leather products must be dried after washing, and try to avoid using them in wet conditions. In addition, PU products should try to avoid cleaning with acidic or alkaline substances, such as soapy water used in daily life, etc. . But this is only the most basic step. To fundamentally prevent these problems, another solution is needed. This is the CPU leatherette. On the one hand, compared with the traditional PU synthetic leather, the CPU synthetic leather fundamentally changes the molding method of the molecular segments, from thermoplastic to thermosetting, that is, from a linear molecular structure to a three-dimensional cross-linked structure. It prevents water molecules from invading between molecular segments, preventing water vapor from forming physical hydrogen bonds with macromolecular polyurethane segments and staying in the molecular chain, which in turn causes product hydrolysis. In addition, all CPU products use polyether resin raw materials to further alleviate the hydrolysis problem of the resin system. On the other hand, in order to further improve the hydrolysis resistance of the resin system, we can add hydrolysis resistance additives such as carbodiimide to the resin system. It can be converted into or neutralized into a harmless urea-based structure with water, and can be embedded in the molecular chain segment to fill the cleavage of the molecular chain caused by hydrolysis. As far as the current test results are concerned, CPU products can be hydrolyzed for ten years without adding hydrolysis-resistant additives.