Preparation of Modified Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes as a Reinforcement for Epoxy Shape-Memory Polymer Composites

Abstract

Effectively improving the mechanical properties and thermal resistance of epoxy shape-memory polymers (ESMPs) without affecting their shape-memory performance is necessary to expand these polymers in practical applications. In this article, modified multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were prepared and used as efficient reinforcement for enhancing the comprehensive properties of ESMPs. Increases of nearly 289% to 444% for impact strength and 112% to 184% for tensile force were obtained by adding only 0.1 to 1 wt% epoxy-modified MWCNTs. The addition of unmodified and carboxyl-modified MWCNTs was also investigated but showed less impact on the mechanical properties of the ESMPs than epoxy-modified MWCNTs. Thermogravimetry analysis (TGA) and dynamic mechanical analyses (DMA) showed that less than 1 wt% modified MWCNTs can enhance the heat resistance of ESMPs greatly. Although the shape recovery time for composite materials increased upon adding the MWCNTs, the entire recovery time was still less than 1 minute, and the shape recovery rate was relatively high, nearly 100%.

Department(s)

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering

Comments

Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province, Grant ZR2018MEE010

Keywords and Phrases

epoxy shape-memory polymer; heat resistance; mechanical property; MWCNTs

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

1042-7147; 1099-1581

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2021 , All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Jan 2021

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