Mechanical and heat transfer properties of 4D-printed shape memory graphene oxide/epoxy acrylate composites

Abstract

Abstract 4D printing is a new technology to fabricate active smart materials, which can change the configuration according to environmental stimuli. To obtain shape memory graphene oxide/bisphenol A epoxy acrylate (GO/Bis-A EA) composites with outstanding shape memory properties and significant thermal conductivity, GO was introduced into Bis-A EA to prepare shape memory GO/Bis-A EA composites by light curing. Through the shape recovery and heat transfer experiments, the shape recovery rate and heating rate were tested to characterize the shape memory and heat transfer performance. The relationship between various influencing factors and the properties of composites were investigated, and the optimal fitting model was established to optimize the preparation process by setting shape recovery rate and heating rate as response values. The results showed that when the content of diphenyl (2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl) phosphine oxide was 4.4%, 1,6-hexanediol diacrylate/Bis-A EA was 0.6, curing power was 40 W, GO content was 0.05%, and curing time was 14 s, the shape recovery rate of the experiments was 87.22% with the heating rate being 0.1532°C/s. The predicted values of shape recovery rate and heating rate inferred by the response surface optimization model were 86.35% and 0.1520°C/s, respectively, which were within 2% error. Through the process optimization research, the 4D-printed shape memory GO/Bis-A EA can achieve excellent shape recovery and heat transfer performance to meet the application of shape memory composites in extreme environments.