Trans-Polyisoprene/Poly (Ethylene-co-Vinyl Acetate) Polymer Composites as High-Performance Triple Shape Memory Materials

Abstract

The performance and programming conditions of the triple shape memory of crosslinked trans-polyisoprene/poly (ethylene-co-vinyl acetate) (TPI/EVA) composites with different contents of dicumyl peroxide (DCP) were investigated. The effect of triple shape memory in the TPI/EVA composites was studied by tensile loading, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and dynamic thermomechanical analysis (DMA). It was demonstrated that the content of DCP increased, the crystallization temperature of TPI decreased from 55.2 to 38.3 °C, and the crystallization temperature of EVA decreased slightly. The SEM results showed that DCP, as an initiator, could form a graft copolymer of TPI-g-EVA at the interface of the two phases, which could improve the adhesion of the two phases. The DMA showed that the higher the content of DCP, the higher the first-stage shape recovery ratio. Moreover, the composites exhibited favorable shape fixity ratio (Rf) and shape recovery ratio (Rr) with the incorporation of 0.4 phr DCP. At the same time, it was demonstrated that the TPI/EVA composites showed excellent mechanical strength, including tensile strength up to 24.3 MPa, as well as elongation at break reaching 508%.