Mechanical, Thermal and Shape Memory Characterization of a Novel Epoxy Shape Memory Polymer

Abstract

In past 3 decades a large number of shape memory polymers are available for various applications. This paper is aimed to produce a novel epoxy polymer by combining an epoxy base polymer Diglycidyl Ether of Bisphenol-A (DGEBA-Araldite LY556) and Polypropylene Glycol Diglycidyl Ether (PPGDE). The mechanical, thermal and shape memory characterization of material is done. It was found that the tensile strength of the material is reduced linearly with increasing the percentage of PPGDE. The elongation at break of the material is increased from 10% to 60% with 25% addition of PPGDE. The glass transition temperature of the material decreases linearly with increasing PPGDE percentage. D-70-P-30 (DGEBA-PPGDE) combination of the material is chosen for shape memory characterisation as its glass transition is above and within the vicinity of room temperature which is the pre-requisite for cold programming. The material shows good shape memory properties such as shape fixity and shape recovery.