Polyurea Elastomer Technology:
History, Chemistry & Basic Formulating Techniques
Dudley J. Primeaux II
Primeaux Associates LLC
161 Forest Drive
Elgin, Texas 78621
polyurea@flash.net

Abstract:
The polyurea elastomer coating / lining technology has shown some very significant
inroads since the introduction of the technology back in the late 1980’s. Initially, thepolyurea technology had set itself in a different class of coating / lining systems ascompared to conventional urethane coating / lining systems. This has been primarily due
to the unique characteristics of the technology, both in processing and performance.
However; over the years there has been a melding of the various technologies, and many
have now classified or implied that polyureas are the same as urethane and/or
urethane/urea systems. There is now a new class of polyurea systems that have different
processing characteristics and some feel that these are not polyurea systems at all. “They
can’t be” people say since you don’t need the high-pressure plural component processing
equipment for application. This has led to some reluctance on the part of engineers andspecifiers to confidently specify polyurea systems for projects. As a result, there has
been some major confusion as to what classifies a system as a polyurea and, what is not.
This paper will take a look at the polyurea technology, formulation basics; and, comparethat to what a polyurethane and polyurethane/polyurea system is, along with some
performance issues.

INTRODUCTION:
Two-component polyurea elastomeric coating / lining systems are the newest technology
to the protective coating / lining industry. Polyurea systems have sometimes beencharacterized as modified two-component polyurethane systems. While they both may
have some characteristics in common, polyurea systems are actually a unique technology
in itself.1
Two-component polyurea systems are typically known for a very rapid dry time
(typically less than 30 seconds), achieved without the use of a catalyst as in the twocomponent polyurethane systems. This rapid dry time is very consistent / uniform over a
very broad ambient temperature range. While the fast reaction / rapid dry time isvirtually unaffected by ambient moisture, the presence of moisture on a substrate must be

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considered when achieving adhesion to that substrate. This is all made possible by aunique chemistry of raw materials used to develop the two-component polyurea systems.
Two-component fast set polyurea systems typically do not contain any solvent or Volatile
Organic Compounds (VOC). They are normally processed by specialized pluralcomponent equipment, which develops high pressure and high temperature for spray
application. The two components are mixed inside the impingement mix spray gun, as
there typically is not any pre-mixing or hot potting.
Since the introduction of the two-component polyurea technology, a wide variety of
applications are seen. These include coating / lining applications over concrete, geotextile membranes, various metals for corrosion and decorative areas as well as someplastics. For all of these, the rapid dry time of the technology means that the area of
application can be returned to service rather quickly.
Polyurea systems with a slower / modified reactivity and set time are also finding use injoint sealant / filler system applications. Here the material is combined in low pressure,
low temperature via “folding” in a static mix tube and applied as a bead of material.
In 2000, the Polyurea Development Association prepared and published a definition ofpolyurea systems. That is identified as follows:“A polyurea coating / elastomer is that derived from the reaction product of an isocyanate
component and a resin blend component. The isocyanate can be aromatic or aliphatic innature. It can be monomer, polymer, or any variant reaction of isocyanates, quasiprepolymer or a prepolymer. The prepolymer, or quasi-prepolymer, can be made of anamine-terminated polymer resin, or a hydroxyl-terminated polymer resin.
The resin blend must be made up of amine-terminated polymer resins, and/or amineterminated chain extenders. The amine-terminated polymer resins will not have any
intentional hydroxyl moieties. Any hydroxyls are the result of incomplete conversion to
the amine-terminated polymer resins. The resin blend may also contain additives, or nonprimary components. These additives may contain hydroxyls, such as pre-dispersed
pigments in a polyol carrier. Normally, the resin blend will not contain a catalyst(s).”Well, that is a mouthful and what does it all mean? This paper will attempt to present abasic overview of the technology and is not meant to be a complete chemistry /technology lesson on polyureas, hybrids and polyurethane systems.

A BRIEF HISTORY of POLYUREA DEVELOPMENT:The first actual reference to polyurea came in 1948 when some researchers were
evaluating thermal properties / melting points of various polymer systems.2 They werecomparing polyesters, linear polyethylene, polyurethanes, polyamides and polyureas;
and, found that the polyureas had far superior thermal properties and an extremely high
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melting point. Keep in mind that these polymers were manufactured in a laboratoryenvironment and were not very conducive to coating / lining applications. Figure 1 is agraphical depiction of the melting points of various polymers for comparison.

Figure 1: Trend of Crystalline Melting Points in Homologous Polymer Chains

The two-component polyurea elastomeric coating / lining technology is a derivation of
the polyurea Reaction Injection Molding (RIM) technology developed in the early
1980’s.3 Polyurea RIM was used to produce a variety of automotive exterior body panel
and fascia (bumper covers) parts. The most noted use was in the Pontiac Fiero, which
employed the space frame concept. Other parts included fascia for the Camaro, Firebird /TransAm, Corvette, Pontiac Bonneville and GrandAm, and rear quarter panels / fenders
for the dually trucks, like Ford, Dodge and GM.

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Figure 2: Polyurea RIM
The advantages or unique characteristics of polyurea over polyurethane andpolyurethane/polyurea hybrid system in RIM applications included rapid molding / curetime which was typically 2 – 3 second set or gel times with a dry time of less than 10
seconds. Also realized was reduced part scrap rate and most importantly, the ability topaint the parts using the online Electrophoritic Paint Deposition (ELPO) process. This
process involved heating the parts to almost 400°F (205°C), a temperature that was very
detrimental to a polyurethane and most hybrid systems. Polyurea systems are noted fortheir high thermal stability.
The two-component fast set polyurea coating / lining technology was first introduced tothe industry in 1988, following the development in 1986.4,5 This technology evolved
from the need to develop a more stable, durable and 100% solids polymer system forcoating rigid, spray applied polyurethane foam used in roofing and other insulation
applications. Some of the first plural component spray applied polyurea formulations had
get times of 1 – 2 secs, with tack free of < 10 secs. The actual first commercial
application of the polyurea elastomeric coating / lining technology was as a roofing
system in 1989.
However, this was not the first actual work with the spray applied two-component
polyurea technology. Earlier work in the 1970’s utilized modified polyamines and highlevels of plasticizers and solvents to achieve a sprayable system for coating work.6 While
this proved successful in laboratory applications, poor field performance was noted andthis technology never gained acceptance.
A unique, solvented polyurea / epoxy / urethane hybrid type system was also utilized in
the 1970’s for production of a composite traction system.7 Other uses included
temporary shelters, roofing and blast protection. This was not a true polyurea systemthough.
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In 1998, the National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE) issued a Technical
Report on polyurea systems in an attempt to give an initial description / comparison ofpolyureas to polyurethanes.8 This document gives a very general view of the technology,
with limited basic details as to the chemistry involved.

POLYUREA CHEMISTRY / FORMULATION:
Since we have been focusing our efforts on defining the technology, we need to identify
what part of the technology / reaction we are looking to that classifies whether a polyurea
or not. The consensus seems to be that we are looking at a 2-part processed system,
whether it was spray, caulk, pour or RIM processed. Therefore, the identifying reaction
would be the reaction that takes place between the 2-part system, i.e. the reaction of thepolyisocyanate component and the resin blend component. This would be thepolymerization / curing part. This is a thermoset reaction.
The main distinguishing characteristic with the polyurea technology over polyurethanesis that amine terminated (-NH2) resins are used rather than hydroxyl terminated (-OH)
resins, commonly referred to as polyols. The reaction of the amine terminated resins with
the isocyanate component results in the formation of a urea linkage. Since this is apolymer and these units repeat, the term polyurea then applies. A simple illustration of
the “polyurea” reaction is given below (Figure 3), compared to polyurethane in Figure 4:

Figure 3: Polyurea Formation Reaction

Figure 4: Polyurethane Formation Reaction
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It should be noted that “polyurea” is a description of a technology and it in itself is not a
coating / lining system. There are a variety of formulation possibilities to achieve desired
performance, as well as various additives that may be used. This is made possible by theselection of various raw materials in the formulation, much like that for polyurethanechemistry. The selection of proper raw materials for the system can be a very complex
procedure.
Based on reactive equivalents between the polyisocyanate component and the resin blend
component for the 2-part systems, the following Table I can be established:
Table I
Formulation Basics vs Technology Type
Resin Part

Chain Extender

System TypePolyetheramine
Polyether Polyol
Polyetheramine
Polyether Polyol

Amine TerminatedAmine Terminated
GlycolGlycolPolyurea
Polyurea/Polyurethane
Polyurethane/Polyurea
Polyurethane

To understand Table I and the derived system type, one must assume for the above chartthat we are processing a 2-part system, where the volume ratio is 1:1, or very close tothat. The isocyanate content of the polyisocyanate component would be 8 to 16%.
To illustrate the reactive equivalents in a system and a distinction of whether apolyurea/polyurethane or polyurethane/polyurea, the following example is shown in
Table II. The isocyanate portion of the system is based on an isocyanate quasiprepolymer with a total isocyanate (NCO) content of 15.5% (equivalent weight of 271;
reactive milli-equivalents or MEQ’s is 369). The resin was formulated to achieve an
INDEX, ratio of isocyanate equivalents to reactive hydrogen equivalents, of 1.05
Table II
Formulation Basics / Reactive Equivalent Contribution
Resin type
PEA, DiPEA, Tri
Chain Extender
Total

pbw
65
10
25
100

equivalent weight
1041
1889
89

Reactive MEQ’s
57.6
5.3
281
344

* based on a 1:1 by volume, 1.05 INDEX, 15.5% NCO content isocyanate
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From Table II, one can see that for the resin blend portion of the 2-part fast set polyurea
elastomer systems, the chain extender contributes the most part of the reactive hydrogenequivalents with the isocyanate reactive equivalents. In this case, over 80%. The chain
extender is really the determining factor on what makes a polyurea. There are no polyols,
or hydroxyl terminated materials, used as the main reactive resin in the resin blend
portion of a two-component polyurea elastomer system. If so, then these would beclassified as a polyurea/polyurethane hybrid system.
One might then also point to the reaction of moisture with the polyisocyanate component.
When moisture enters into the reaction mechanism, the moisture would react with theisocyanate to form a carbamate. This will very quickly dissociate into an amineterminated molecule, which would then very rapidly react with an isocyanate specie /moiety to form a urea linkage. Hence forth, a single component moisture cured urethane
system could be considered a polyurea system, but not a two-part system. The moisturereaction is the curing mechanism to reaction.
There is also some interest and work in the 2-part systems where part of one componentis blocked, both parts are mixed and reaction / curing occurs when another factor isintroduced. This other factor may be heat, as is the case of blocking the isocyanate
component (using oximes and phenols). The other would be moisture, as in the case ofblocked amine resin blends (formation of aldimines).

Aromatic Based Polyurea:
Aromatic based two-component polyurea systems have been the workhorse of the twocomponent polyurea technology. Aromatic refers to the nature of the chemical backboneof the polymer system. The two-component systems are comprised of an isocyanate partand a resin blend component. The isocyanate component is typically an isocyanate quasiprepolymer, prepared from methylene diisocyanate (MDI) (Figure 5).

Figure 5: Methylene Diisocyanate Structure
The quasi-prepolymer is based on the MDI and a polyether polyol. By changing the type/ structure of the MDI and the polyol, a wide variety of elastomer physical properties,

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7performance and reactivities can be achieved. Reactive diluents may also be employed
to lower the viscosity of the isocyanate component.
The MDI is partially polymerized with a polyol in order to reduce the overall isocyanate
content and allow for application processing at a 1:1 volume ratio with the resin blend
component. It should be noted that toluene diisocyanate (TDI) has typically not beenused in two-component, fast set spray polyurea elastomer systems. There are someresults that do show some unique viability in certain applications and some recent use has
been noted.
The resin blend portion of an aromatic based polyurea system is the more complex
portion of the system. The resin blend utilizes soft-block and hard-block segments forthe reactive constituents. The soft-block segments are the high molecular weight resins,referred to as polyetheramines or amine terminated polyethers. These polyetheramines
are either di-functional or tri-functional with blends of the two providing for certain
elastomer physical properties and performance. Figure 6 is an illustration of the diamineand Figure 7 is an illustration of the triamine.

Figure 6: Polyoxypropylene Diamine Structure
Polyether Diamine

Figure 7: Polyoxypropylene Triamine Structure
Polyether Triamine
The polyoxypropylene diamine is typically in the 2000 molecular weight range while thepolyoxypropylene triamine is in the 5000 molecular weight range. These resins provide
the flexibility in the resulting polyurea polymer system. They also provide for that initial
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8reaction or set in the polymer system when the isocyanate and resin blend components
are mixed.
There are other high molecular weight amine terminated resins that are making recent
inroads in polyurea applications. These are based on aromatic or linear hydrocarbon
chains, as well as silicone resin backbones. This paper is designed merely to touch on /hi-light the overall polyurea technology and concept and cannot address all specifictypes.
The other portion of the resin blend component is the hard-block, or more commonly
called the chain extender. A chain extender is the low molecular weight amine
terminated resin that completes the polymer chain and extends / controls the overallsystem dry time. The most common chain extender used in two-component polyurea
elastomer systems is diethyltoluene diamine (DETDA). It is available as an 80,20 isomerof the 2,4 –diamine to 2,6 -diamine. Figure 8 is an illustration of DETDA.

Figure 8: DETDA; 80,20 Isomer Structure
To assist in controlling the dry time of the two-component polyurea systems, a co-chain
extender will be used with the DETDA. This co-chain extender is also an amine
terminated material, but is generally a secondary / hindered amine. Figure 9 is an
illustration of a common hindered amine chain extender based on methylene dianiline.

Figure 9: N,N’- Dialkyl Methylene Dianiline
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For non-polyurea type systems, low molecular weight glycol type chain extenders areused. The are hydroxyl terminated and the reaction with the isocyanate portion yields theurethane linkage. Figure 10 give the general structure of ethylene glycol and 1,4butylene glycol, two commonly used hydroxyl-terminated chain extenders for reference.

Figure 10: Ethylene Glycol and 1,4-butylene Glycol
To get a better understanding of the effect of the secondary or hindered amine co-chain
extender, Table III illustrates the effect on the two-component polyurea dry time as thesechain extenders are adjusted. It should be noted that the isocyanate component remained
the same composition, and the overall systems were adjusted to achieve the 1:1 volume
ratio processing.
Table III
Effect of Secondary / Hindered Amines on Dry TimeResin
Polyether Diamine, 2000 mw
Polyether Triamine, 5000 mw
DETDA
Secondary Amine, Figure 9

40
27
30
3

Gel time, secs
Dry time, secs

2
2.5

40
27
25
8

pbw
39
26
17
18

39
26
9
26

38
25
4
33

38
25
0
37

2.5
3.0

3.5
4.0

5.0
10

12
70

23
130

These are not the only two types of chain extenders that may or are currently used; there
are others that can provide the same effect. Many of these are solids at room temperatureand may be hard to blend into the resin blend portion by the manufacturer of the system.
Table IV shows the relative reaction rates of an isocyanate component with various
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10amine terminated materials. The secondary or hindered diamines extend the reactivity of
the rapid dry two-component aromatic polyurea elastomer technology to allow for
improved processing and better substrate wetout / adhesion.
Table IV
Relative Reaction Rates of Isocyanate with Active Hydrogen Compounds

In most cases, pigment dispersions are used to pigment the elastomer systems. These
dispersions are solid pigments in a carrier media such as a polyetheramine or polyether orpolyester polyol. Use here would be in typical additive type amounts and would have no
bearing on the classification of the system. The resin blend portion may also containvarious additives such as adhesion promoters, UV stabilizers and antioxidants. This
would also apply to the aliphatic-based systems described later.
The main limitation of the aromatic two-component polyurea system is overall color
stability of the resulting polymer. While pigmentation will help, all aromatic based two-

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11component polyurea elastomer systems will fade or change color when exposed toultraviolet light. It should be noted that this is only a surface effect on the polymer.

Aliphatic Based Polyurea:
Following the introduction of the aromatic based two-component polyurea elastomer
systems; the fast dry aliphatic-based materials were developed.9,10 For these systems, youalso have an isocyanate component and a resin blend portion. The isocyanate is also aquasi-prepolymer, like with the aromatic based two-component polyurea systems.
However, the isocyanate used is a light stable monomer and the “polyol” may actually be
the polyoxypropylene diamine. The common isocyanate used is isophorone diisocyanate(IPDI) (Figure 11).

Figure 11: Isophorone Diisocyanate Structure
The resin blend of the aliphatic-based two-component polyurea systems is very similar to
the aromatic based system. Blends of the high molecular weight polyoxypropolyene
amines (Figures 6 and 7) are used to develop flexibility and initial set in the polymer
system.
The chain extender portion of the two-component fast dry aliphatic polyurea elastomer
system is different than the aromatic based system. Here, the chain extender may
actually be a “soft” hard-block or a conventional “hard” hard-block. For the “soft” hardblock segment, chain extenders of a low molecular weight (typically less than 400) areused based on the polyoxyproplyene amines as shown in Figures 6 and 7. These provide
for an aliphatic polyurea elastomer that has a limited thermal resistance, typically lessthan 176°F (80°C).
The more common form of chain extender for the two-component fast dry aliphatic
polyurea technology is the cycloaliphatic diamines. The most common of those would be
isophorone diamine (IPDA) (Figure 12).

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Figure 12: Isophorone Diamine Structure
There are other cycloaliphatic diamines that may be used as well, these include various
isomers of cyclohexane diamine, hydrogenated versions of methylene dianiline’s, or
tetramethyl xylene diamine.
There will also be a co-chain extender used with the IPDA to control overall polyurea
elastomer system dry time, very similar to that with the aromatic based two-component
polyurea elastomers. These co-chain extenders will either be secondary or hinderedaliphatic amines. They are typically derivatives of IPDA, hydrogenated methylene
dianiline (HMDA) or other cycloaliphatic diamines. 11-15 These to provide for extending
the dry time of the rapid dry two-component aliphatic polyurea systems and to aid inprocessing and improved substrate wetout.
The fast dry two-component aliphatic polyurea systems will utilize some of the same
additives found in the aromatic based systems.

Polyaspartic Ester Based Polyurea:
In the early 1990’s a new technology of two-component aliphatic polyurea wasintroduced to the industry. 16, 17 This technology was introduced primarily for thin film
applications where high gloss and excellent color stability are important. The
polyaspartic ester polyurea technology is considered a slow dry technology, with dry
times of up to 120 minutes.
This technology primarily uses isocyanate components based on either trimers or dimersof hexamethylene diisocyanate. Rather than the somewhat complex reactive resin
selections as with the rapid dry two-component polyurea systems, the resin choice for theslow dry polyaspartic esters is somewhat simpler that conventional two-component fastset polyurea systems. The resin blend is composed primarily of the polyaspartic esteramine resins (Figure 13).

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Figure 13: Polyaspartic Ester Amine Resin
The polyaspartic ester amine resins are relatively low in viscosity and molecular weight.
The primary backbone structure (X from Figure 13) is cycloaliphatic, but can be a linear
diamine. This technology can be easily applied by brush, roller or by pre-mixing andapplication through airless spray techniques. Solvents may be used in small amounts toassist in mix viscosity control and application.
The polyaspartic ester amine resins may also be used as co-chain extenders in the rapid
dry, two-component aromatic and aliphatic polyurea elastomer systems. These will havean effect of extending out the dry time of the systems and allow for improved wetout of
the substrate.

PERFORMANCE ISSUES:
In general, the basic fast set polyurea spray technology is comparable to physicalproperties of polyurethane/polyurea hybrids and polyurethane systems. In other words,
these technologies of coatings / lining systems can be formulated to achieve a variety ofelastomer physical properties.
The truly big advantage of the polyurea technology is the speed of reaction and the ability
to put the structure or facility back into service very quickly. One has to be very careful
here though because polyurea systems may set and give an initial cure very quickly thatwill allow this “return to service” very quickly, but not develop ultimate elastomer
physical properties for 24 hours or more. This all depends on the exact polyurea system
formulation.
The polyurea systems do tend to have better flexibility at lower temperatures than to thecorresponding polyurethane/polyurea hybrid or polyurethane system. The technology
also performs very well with regard to thermal shock resistance.

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Moisture and Temperature Sensitivity:
One of the major advantages of the polyurea technology is the relative insensitivity tomoisture during processing / application. As the amine – isocyanate reaction tends to bepreferential over the hydroxyl – isocyanate reaction, foaming of polyurea systems isalmost impossible. However, it can occur, especially if a catalyst is present. For
polyurethane/polyurea hybrids and polyurethane systems, catalysts are used to control thereaction. If moisture is present, they may exhibit some foaming which leads to lower
density, porosity and poor performance.

Figure 14: Effect of Moisture on Elastomer Density
Figure 14 illustrates the effect of moisture / humidity during processing of both a fast set
spray polyurea and spray polyurethane systems. As the INDEX increases, ratio of
isocyanate equivalents to reactive hydrogen equivalents, the density of a polyurea systemremains constant while the polyurethane system shows a decrease in elastomer density.
The non-polyurea system foamed due to the catalyzed reaction of isocyanate with the
moisture in the air. This reduction of density / foaming would result in overall
performance issues for the polyurethane system. Similar results have also been shownwith a polyurethane/ polyurea hybrid technology.

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While polyurea systems may show insensitivity to moisture, that does not mean they canbe applied over a wet substrate. The polyurea will react over the water, but the appliedsystem will not bond to the substrate in that area.
The ambient temperature and substrate temperature may have little affect on the reaction
and cure of a polyurea system as compared to the others. But, the real important issue issubstrate temperature and dew point. Industry standard coating practices must also be
followed with polyurea systems and application in that the substrate temperature must be
5° above dew point and rising. If not, moisture will condense on that substrate and cause
adhesion issues with the polyurea technology, as with other coating / lining systems.

Chemical Resistance:
Polyurea systems in general exhibit similar chemical resistance properties as that ofcomparable formulated polyurethane / polyurea hybrids and polyurethanes. This is due
primarily to the fact that all have the polyether backbone in the elastomer. The urea
linkage found in the polyurea as well as the hybrid system is more resistant to hydrolysis
than the urethane linkage. Polyurea systems do tend to have better resistance to alkali,
high pH, than the hybrids or polyurethane systems. Aromatic polyurea systems are
subject to chemical oxidation.
There are some newer technologies of polyurea systems that are showing significantly
higher chemical resistance with respect to highly acidic environments. Keep in mind thatchemical resistance / performance can be directly related to processing conditions of thepolyurea systems. Those that do not achieve complete mix and contain porosity will
have lower chemical resistance performance than those processed at the optimum
conditions. This would include proper processing temperatures and pressures as well as
the proper mix configuration in the spray gun.
These newer technologies of polyurea systems have different polymer backbones in the
chain. These can be ester, epoxy, silicone or a combination of proprietary modifications
to the polymer chain. 18

Thermal Analysis of Two-Component Rapid Dry Polyureas:
One very interesting note about the rapid dry two-component aromatic and aliphatic
polyurea elastomer systems is the resultant thermal properties of the polymer films.
Two-Component polyurea elastomer systems are amorphous in nature, not crystalline
like polyurethane systems. This amorphous nature is similar to that of epoxy typesystems except that two-component polyurea system do not have a true glass transition
temperature. Instead, 2 distinct Tg’s can be noted, one corresponding to the melting pointof the soft-block in the polymer and the other corresponding to the melting point of thehard-block in the polymer (Figure 15).

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From Dynamic Mechanical Spectroscopy evaluations of typical two-component polyurea
elastomer systems, a low temperature Tg is noted at about -50° to -60°C with a hightemperature Tg of about 230° to 260°C for the aromatic based systems. The twocomponent aliphatic polyurea systems have a low temperature Tg about the same as thetwo-component aromatic polyurea but have a high temperature Tg of about 110° to
120°C.10 The response curve between these two points remains relatively flat. This
would be the performance range, temperature wise, for a polyurea elastomer system. In
lay terms, the polyurea elastomer systems would tend to show some significant stiffeningat temperatures less than -50°C with some polymer softening, or possible decomposition,at the upper temperatures Tg’s.

Figure 15: Dynamic Mechanical Spectroscopy of Aromatic Polyurea Spray

Shrinkage During Cure:
Since formation of the elastomeric polyureas are based on a thermoset reaction, somelinear shrinkage during cure will occur. This is not thermal expansion / contraction due
to temperature changes. The total amount of shrinkage will depend on the reactive
constituents of the isocyanate and resin blend components, even though the elastomericsystem may have elongation values greater than 200%. These linear shrinkage forces
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17may be strong enough to curl the corners or edges of the applied work and could lead todisbondment or destruction of the substrate. The elastomeric polyurea systems usedshould be designed for the particular coating / lining application work.
Shrinkage values for some polyurea spray elastomer system may actually exceed 5%linearly. For some specific application areas, the polyurethane / polyurea hybrid systems
are better suited due to the lower shrinkage values exhibited in these systems.

Weatherability Properties:
The Aromatic polyurea systems have good resistance to ultraviolet light from an overall
performance standpoint. Even with the use of UV Stabilizers / Antioxidants, they will
however become discolored and fade over time when used in light colors for exterior
exposure environments.
Aliphatic polyurea systems have excellent resistance to degradation by ultraviolet lightand are used for a variety of exterior and interior atmospheric services. By modifying thearomatic based systems with inclusion of aliphatic isocyanates or chain extenders, somecolor stability enhancement may be noted. However, these still have aromatic specie inthe polymer backbone and are not color stable.

CONCLUSION:
Two-component polyurea elastomeric coating / lining systems may be somewhat of a
newcomer to the industry, but it has shown a good deal of versatility and application use.
The rapid dry time characteristics provides for an extremely good cost and time-effective
solution to a variety of coating / lining applications over conventional technologies. With
the extreme efforts for industrial rehabilitation and increasing need to comply withenvironmental, economic and time constraints, the speed and durability of the twocomponent polyurea technology hold great promise.
As the use of this technology grows, so does the confusion as to what is a polyurea andwhat is not. Hopefully this text will have given the reader a better understanding of whata polyurea systems is as compared to similar technologies of polyurethane/ polyurea
hybrids and polyurethane systems.
The two-component polyurea technology must be treated as other coating type systems
with regard to proper and complete surface preparation. The uniqueness of thetechnology is not a cause to limit or even eliminate proper, industry accepted surface
preparation guidelines. The substrates must be clean, dry and free of contaminants.
Continuous development of new raw materials for formulation work will move thistechnology to a higher level of industrial coating / lining work while preserving theuniqueness of the polyurea technology.
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References:1

Primeaux II, D. J., Evolution of Polyurea “Spray”. In Building on the Future, PDA
Annual Meeting, New Orleans, Louisiana, November 30 – December 1, 2000.
2
Hill, R.; Walker, E.E. Trend of Crystalline Melting Points in Homologous Series of
Aliphatic Polymers. Journal of Polymer Science, Volume 3, 1948, pp 609.
3
Grigsby, R.A.; Dominguez, R.J.G.D. Polyurea RIM – A Versatile High Performance
Material. In The Magic of Polyurethane, Proceedings of the SPI 29th Annual Technical /Marketing Conference, Reno, Nevada, October 1985, pp 248 – 253.
4
Primeaux II, D.J.; Grigsby, R.A.; Rice, M. Polyurea RIM in Exterior Body Panel
Applications. In SAE International Congress and Exposition, Detroit, Michigan.
February – March 1988, pp 7 – 14.
5
Primeaux II, D.J. Spray Polyurea – Versatile High Performance Elastomer for the
Polyurethane Industry. In Polyurethanes 89, Proceedings of the SPI – 32nd Annual
Technical / Marketing Conference, San Francisco, California, October 1989, pp 126 –130.
6
Rowton, R.L. Cyanoethylated Polyoxypropylenepolyamines: Polymer Formers of
Unique Reactivity. Journal of Elastomers and Plastics, Volume 9, October 1977, pp 365– 375.
7
Grubs, Paul, Earliest & Largest Applications of Polyurea. In Polyurea: The Future is
NOW!, PDA 2nd Annual Meeting, Orlando, Florida, November 28 – 30, 2001.
8
NACE 6A198. Introduction to Thick-Film Polyurethanes, Polyureas, and Blends;
NACE: Houston, 1998.
9
Primeaux II, D.J. 100% Solids Aliphatic Spray Polyurea Elastomer Systems. In
Polyurethanes World Congress 1991, Proceedings of the SPI/ISOPA, Acropolis, Nice,
France, September 1991, pp 474 – 477.
10
Primeaux II, D.J. 100% Solids Aliphatic Spray Polyurea Elastomer Systems. Journalof Elastomers and Plastics, Volume 24, October 1992, pp 323 – 336.
11
Primeaux II, D.J. U.S. Patent 5,162,388 (1992).
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House, D.W. et.al. U.S. Patent 5,312,886 (1994).
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16
Wicks, D.A.; Yeske, P.E. Control of the Reaction Between Polyaspartic Esters andAliphatic Polyisocyanates. In Water-Borne & Higher-Solids and Powder Coatings
Symposium, New Orleans, Louisiana, February 1993, pp 1 – 8.
17
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18
US Patent 6,797,789, Visuron Technologies, Inc., Bay City, MI. (2004)

A Presentation by Primeaux Associates LLC
2004, Primeaux Associates LLC

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Bibliography:
Sections of this text also appear in The Inspection of Coatings and Linings 2nd Edition,
Chapter 5.3, Dudley J. Primeaux II author, and the soon to be released new edition ofGeneric Coating Types, Two-Component Polyurea Coatings / Linings chapter, Dudley J.
Primeaux II author. Both texts are published by the SSPC: The Society for Protective
Coatings.

Acknowledgements:
It is said that no publication is ever written by one person alone. To Karen, Taylor andHunter, this one’s for you. Thanks for the support.
Deo Vindice, Resurgam!

BIOGRAPHY:
Dudley J. Primeaux II is President and owner of Primeaux Associates LLC, a private
consulting business. Mr. Primeaux specializes in the polyurea industry; including
equipment, application, training, and expert witness while working through a variety ofcompanies throughout the world.
Mr. Primeaux received a Master of Science Degree in Organic Chemistry from Lamar
University in Beaumont, Texas in 1984. He was employed by Texaco Chemical
Company - Austin Research Labs and Huntsman Corporation where he was involved in
the development, and first demonstrated the 100 % solids polyurea spray elastomer
technology.
Mr. Primeaux was also Managing Partner / Chief Chemist with EnviroChem
Technologies where he was responsible for all formulation development for theEnviroLastic polyurea product line and marketing of those systems and applications.
He also trained and interacted with the Certified Contractor Network on products andapplication techniques. Application equipment setup, training and servicing also fell
under his responsibilities. He is currently involved with all aspects of polyurea coating /
lining training work through The Polyurea Training Group, and Technical support for
The Hanson Group, LLC.
Mr. Primeaux is SSPC C-1 “Fundamentals of Protective Coatings for Industrial
Structures” and C-2 “Specifying and Managing Protective Coatings Projects” Certified
and in process of completion of his Protective Coatings Specialist certification. He also
served as President of the Polyurea Development Association. He is named inventor of
25 US Patents and 6 European Patents on polyurethane and polyurea foam applications aswell as polyurea spray elastomer systems/applications. He also has 35 technicalpublications on the polyurea elastomer technology.
A Presentation by Primeaux Associates LLC
2004, Primeaux Associates LLC

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