Issue 54, 2017, Issue in Progress

PU/PMMA composites synthesized by reaction-induced phase separation: a general approach to achieve a shape memory effect

Abstract

We report a study on the triple-shape memory polymer composition of polyurethane/polymethyl methacrylate (PU/PMMA) synthesized using reaction-induced phase separation. Microscopic phase separation, which forms sea-island structures, enhances the shape memory effect, and phase separation can be achieved by changing the volume ratio of the two components in the polymer composites. In this study, we used the same method and synthesized 5 composites with different volume ratios of PU/PMMA. The composites with a PU/PMMA ratio of 2 : 1 exhibited triple-shape memory effect. The PU/PMMA composites were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). Based on the studies, we propose that reaction-induced phase separation can be used as a general approach to achieve the shape memory effect.

Graphical abstract: PU/PMMA composites synthesized by reaction-induced phase separation: a general approach to achieve a shape memory effect

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
08 May 2017
Accepted
24 Jun 2017
First published
04 Jul 2017
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

RSC Adv., 2017,7, 33701-33707

PU/PMMA composites synthesized by reaction-induced phase separation: a general approach to achieve a shape memory effect

Y. Zhang, W. Li, R. Wu and W. Wang, RSC Adv., 2017, 7, 33701 DOI: 10.1039/C7RA05206E

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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