Abstract
In the present study, solvent casted bio-based blends of polylactic acid (PLA) and epoxidized soybean oil (ESO) were prepared at varied composition of PLA: ESO of 95:5, 90:10, 85:15, 80:20 and 75:25 wt%. The shape memory polymer (SMP) nanocomposite films of optimized PLA/ESO blend (80:20) were prepared using same solvent casting method at three different loadings (1, 3 and 5 wt%) of acid functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (COOH-MWCNT). The FTIR spectra confirmed acid functionalization of MWCNT and the molecular interactions by intermolecular hydrogen bonding between PLA and ESO. Mechanical properties of the PLA, plasticized PLA with 20 wt% of ESO and its nanocomposites were investigated by tensile measurements. Thermal properties such as Tm, Tc, Tg, Xc, degradation temperature of PLA and its modified forms were studied using DSC and TGA. SEM was used to observe surface morphology of plasticized PLA. Among all, PLA + 20wt%ESO + 3wt%COOH-MWCNT shows optimum mechanical and thermal performance, which was taken to perform electroactive shape recovery test. Finally, the electroactive shape recovery of the resulting nanocomposite with 3 wt% COOH-MWCNT was investigated by a fold deploy “U”-shape bending test.
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