Thermal, mechanical and electrical properties of polyurethane/(3-aminopropyl) triethoxysilane functionalized graphene/epoxy resin interpenetrating shape memory polymer composites

Functionalized graphene (FG) was successfully synthesized by treating graphene oxide with (3-aminopropyl) triethoxysilane (KH-550) and then reduced by hydrazine hydrate. Subsequently, significant reinforcement of polyurethane/epoxy resin (PU/EP) composites in situ synthesized on the FG is prepared. Morphologic study shows that, due to the formation of chemical bonding, the FG was dispersed well in the PU/EP matrix and the mechanical performance is improved. Meanwhile, the thermal degradation temperature was enhanced almost 50 degrees C higher than that of PU/EP. The conductivity of PU/FG/EP nanocomposites was 82.713 x 10(-6) S/m at 2.0 wt% loadings. The resulting composites exhibited 96% shape fixity, 94% shape recovery, enhanced shape recovery force to realize thermo-electric dual responsive property. Comparing with the results in literature, the composites used in this study have shown a progress between electrical conductivity and shape memory property. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.