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Shape Memory Properties in Poly(ethylene oxide)–Poly(ethylene terephthalate) Copolymers
Author(s) -
Wang Mingtai,
Luo Xiaolie,
Zhang Xiaoyun,
Ma Dezhu
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
polymers for advanced technologies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.61
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1099-1581
pISSN - 1042-7147
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-1581(199703)8:3<136::aid-pat621>3.0.co;2-i
Subject(s) - materials science , copolymer , poly ethylene , ethylene oxide , ethylene , shrinkage , annealing (glass) , oxide , recrystallization (geology) , composite material , polymer chemistry , chemical engineering , polymer , organic chemistry , metallurgy , catalysis , chemistry , paleontology , biology , engineering
Memory effects of several copolymers of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) were illustrated with photos, determined with shrinkage experiments and characterized by the recovery of samples to their original figures. Copolymers of appropriate composition could undertake an approximately full recovery which is tightly related to the annealing temperature at which shrinkage of samples occurs to some extent. Melting and recrystallization of PEO segments may be responsible for the memory effect. The memory properties of samples almost kept unchanged after many fatigue cycles (e.g. 15–20 cycles), which could make these copolymers useful in practical applications as novel shape memory materials. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.