Synthesis of shape memory epoxyurethane polymers with a wide range of switching temperatures.

Анотація

Shape memory polymers (SMPs) have attracted increasing interest from both academia and industry. Such materials have a high innovation potential and can be formed in films for packaging, heat-shrinkable tubes, smart fabrics, intelligent medical devices, implants for minimally invasive surgery, self-deployable sun sails in spacecrafts and so on. A typical thermoset polymer is a mixture of many long, entangled molecular chains that are connected by net points created by either chemical cross-linking or physical cross-linking. At temperatures higher than the glass transition temperature, those polymer chains are flexible and a polymer is soft and is characterized by the rubbery state. The switch temperature (Tsw) between permanent and temporary shape of thermoset SMPs is usually related towards the glass transition temperature (Tg), so it is a key parameter defining the temperature range of their shape deformation and recovery. In our work we propose an approach to modify the basic epoxy resin.