Thermal-triggered Trans-1, 4-polyisoprene/polyethylene wax shape memory and self-healing composites

Abstract

The development of intelligent materials is a key research direction of modern high-tech new materials. Polymers with stimuli-responsive shape memory function or self-healing function are an important branch of smart polymer materials. A series of shape memory TPI/PEW composites with self-healing properties were designed and prepared in this manuscript. The mechanical, curing, thermodynamic, shape memory properties and self-healing properties of TPI/PEW composites were studied by DSC, XRD and DMA method. The results showed that the introduction of PEW had a significant impact on the overall performance of composites, especially on shape memory and self-healing properties. Specifically, the crystalline region of PEW can be used as a reversible phase of shape memory behavior, which also play a key role of diffusion and fusion in self-healing behavior. Therefore, the shape memory properties and self-healing properties were greatly improved by the increase of PEW content. When TPI/PEW was 50/50, the shape fixation rate (Rf) and shape recovery rate (Rr) were 97.94% and 91.54% respectively, and self-healing efficiency of composites reached 20.74%. These unique shape memory and self-healing properties might expand the application of these composites, especially in smart materials field.