S. Basak, Kevin A. Cavicchi
Jun 24, 2022
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Journal
Macromolecular rapid communications
Abstract
The current work presents the study of a semi-crystalline, shape memory polymer synthesized by simultaneous free radical polymerization and crosslinking in a blend of polybutadiene and octadecyl acrylate. Blending elastomers and phase change materials provide a modular method for new smart materials, such as shape memory polymers. In this system, grafted, side-chain crystalline poly(octadecyl acrylate) (PODA) fixes a programmed shape in the shape memory cycle while crosslinked polybutadiene drives shape recovery. This work focused on improving material parameters important for shape memory (crystallinity, gel fraction, melting temperature) by tuning the processing and formulation parameters (amount of crosslinker and PB weight fraction). The result was a shape memory PB-PODA copolymer that could be fabricated by melt processing and programmed without cooling below ambient temperature. It was found that good shape memory (i.e., high shape fixity and recovery) was obtained at a low PB weight fraction where a percolating PODA crystal network was formed at room temperature. The optimized sample shows excellent shape memory properties (fixity > 99%, recovery = 96%). It is shown that it is possible to mold this material into complex 3D shapes or topography with potential use in anti-counterfeiting and anti-tampering applications. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.