Very rare shape memory polymer blends demonstrated two-way shape memory behavior under external stress-free condition. In this work, OBC (olefin block copolymer)/PCL (polycaprolactone) blends crosslinked with DHBP (2,5-Dimethyl-2,5-di(t-butylperoxy) hexane) showed multi-stimulus shape memory behavior under thermal-activation and chemo-activation conditions. In the thermal-activated condition, the OBC/PCL blends not only showed the conventional one-way shape memory effect, but also achieved two-way reversible shape memory effect under stress-free condition after programming. Under stress-free condition, the optimized blend of OBC/PCL D2 40/60 with the absolute reversible strain change of 7.7 % and the relative reversible strain change of 17.5% was prepared after 300 kPa programming. In the chemical responsive condition, the deformed blends exposed to solvent vapor induced the inhomogeneous swelling, which demonstrated the reversible shape change. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first shape memory polymer blends to show the reversible shape memory behavior without external stress both in thermal and solvent vapor environments.

Multiple responsive reversible shape memory OBC/PCL blends

2019 Spring National Meeting

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