An electrical heating shape memory polymer composite incorporated with conductive elastic fabric

Abstract

Shape memory polymers (SMPs) are a class of smart materials with large deformation performance and variable stiffness characteristics, and have exhibited great potential in morphing skins. The thermal stimulation of SMPs is one of the hotspots in recent years. Shape memory polymer composites (SMPC) filled with conductive materials are activated by Joule heating without external heating facilities. The existing electro-induced SMPCs filled with conductive materials would limit large tension deformation, cannot be heated in a large area, or damage the heating circuit under cyclic loading. These aspects restrict the application of SMPC for morphing skins. In this work, an electro-induced SMP composite was fabricated by the styrene-based SMP incorporated with conductive elastic fabric (CEF) to remove the limiting factors as much as possible. The thermos-mechanical properties and electro-active characteristics of CEF/SMP composite were systematically investigated. The maximum strain at break of CEF/SMP composites reached 206% at 80°C, exhibiting excellent deformation performance. The resistance remained relatively stable after 50 cycles under 40% tensile strain. Furthermore, the CEF/SMP composite with a dimension of 160×160×3 mm3 was successfully heated above the glass transition temperature, demonstrating the actuating ability with a relatively large region. In general, the CEF/SMP composite is promising for the application of morphing skins.