A novel biodegradable antimicrobial PU foam from wattle tannin

A new kind of polyurethane (PU) foam was synthesized from wattle tannin (WT), which has good prospects of application for its biodegradation and bacteriostasis. The effects of WT content, diisocyanate dosage, and chemical modification of WT on properties of PU were investigated. It was found that WT could contribute not only to bacteriostatic activity, but also to biodegradability during soil micro-organism treatment for the polyurethane foams. Furthermore, the bacteriostasis of PU is improved by modifying the chemical structure of WT. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 90: 2756–2763, 2003