Journal
APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL
Volume 2, Issue 2, Pages 535-548Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/app2020535
Keywords
thermal-responsive SMPUs; polyurethanes; high molecular weight; low recovery stress
Categories
Funding
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council [EP/F06294X/1]
- leverhulme Trust [F/01431]
- Knowledge Centre for Materials Chemistry [X00680PR]
- Royal Academy of Engineering-Research Exchanges
- Royal Society [RG090609]
- Carnegie Trust
- EPSRC [EP/F06294X/1] Funding Source: UKRI
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council [EP/F06294X/1] Funding Source: researchfish
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Shape memory polyurethanes (SMPUs) are typically synthesized using polyols of low molecular weight (M-W similar to 2,000 g/mol) as it is believed that the high density of cross-links in these low molecular weight polyols are essential for high mechanical strength and good shape memory effect. In this study, polyethylene glycol (PEG-6000) with M-W similar to 6000 g/mol as the soft segment and diisocyanate as the hard segment were used to synthesize SMPUs, and the results were compared with the SMPUs with polycaprolactone PCL-2000. The study revealed that although the PEG-6000-based SMPUs have lower maximum elongations at break (425%) and recovery stresses than those of PCL-based SMPUs, they have much better recovery ratios (up to 98%) and shape fixity (up to 95%), hence better shape memory effect. Furthermore, PEG-based SMPUs showed a much shorter actuation time of < 10 s for up to 90% shape recovery compared to typical actuation times of tens of seconds to a few minutes for common SMPUs, demonstrated their great potential for applications in microsystems and other engineering components.
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