Electroactive Shape Memory Property of a Cu-decorated CNT Dispersed PLA/ESO Nanocomposite

Materials

Javed Alam¹  Aslam Khan¹  Manawwer Alam²  Raja Mohan³ 

[1] King Abdullah Institute for Nanotechnology, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia; E-Mail:;Research Center, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia; E-Mail:;School of Engineering and Technology, Jagran Lakecity University, Mugaliyachap, Bhopal 462044, Madhya Pradesh, India; E-Mail:

关键词: shape memory polymer;    polylactic acid;    nanocomposites;    electro actuation;    shape recovery;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ma8095313

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Shape memory polymer (SMP) nanocomposites with a fast electro-actuation speed were prepared by dispersing Cu-decorated carbon nanotubes (CNTs) (Cu-CNTs, 1 wt %, 2 wt %, and 3 wt %) in a polylactic acid (PLA)/epoxidized soybean oil (ESO) blend matrix. The shape memory effect (SME) induced by an electrical current was investigated by a fold-deploy “U”-shape bending test. In addition, the Cu-CNT dispersed PLA/ESO nanocomposite was characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and tensile and electrical measurements. The results demonstrated that the SME was dependent on the Cu-CNT content in the nanocomposites. When comparing the SMEs of the nanocomposite specimens with different Cu-CNT contents, the 2 wt % Cu-CNT dispersed system exhibited a shape recovery as high as 98% within 35 s due to its higher electrical conductivity that results from uniform Cu-CNT dispersion. However, the nanocomposites that contained 1 wt % and 3 wt % Cu-CNTs required 75 s and 63 s, respectively, to reach a maximum recovery level. In addition, the specimens exhibited better mechanical properties after the addition of Cu-CNTs.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
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