Synthesis of a novel hydrophobic polyurea gel from CO2 and amino-modified polysiloxane

Carbon dioxide, as a carbonyl source to replace the highly toxic isocyanate, was used to prepare a new type of polyurea with amino modified polysiloxane in this work. The formation of both the modified polysiloxane and polyureas were confirmed by FT-IR spectra, 1 H NMR spectrum and 13 C NMR spectrum. The thermo-stability, solubility as well as the hydrophilicity was examined; the polysiloxane could be soluble in several polar solvents like acetone, THF, ethanol and so on. The polyureas are stable at temperature lower than 150   °C, and the synthesized polyureas are hydrophobic as they have a water contact angles larger than 90°. Moreover, the polyurea containing high urea linkage content presented excellent absorption for some organic solvents, such as C 2 H 3 Cl 3 , thus it is expected to have an application in removing organic pollutants on river.