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Multi‐Shape‐Memory Property Study of Novel Poly(ε‐Caprolactone)/Ethyl Cellulose Polymer Networks
Author(s) -
Bai Yongkang,
Jiang Cheng,
Wang Qihua,
Wang Tingmei
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
macromolecular chemistry and physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.57
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1521-3935
pISSN - 1022-1352
DOI - 10.1002/macp.201300389
Subject(s) - shape memory polymer , polymer , materials science , shape memory alloy , ethyl cellulose , cellulose , caprolactone , composite material , phase (matter) , polymer chemistry , chemical engineering , topology (electrical circuits) , copolymer , chemistry , organic chemistry , mathematics , combinatorics , engineering
Multi‐shape‐memory polymers (MSMPs) are a novel kind of shape‐memory polymer that can fix two or more temporary shapes and recover from the first temporary shape to the other temporary shapes one by one, and finally to a permanent shape. The key factor to realize multi‐shape‐memory effects (MSMEs) is the integration of two or more reversible phases into a polymer network, which is extremely challenging work. Here, a novel strategy is used to achieve MSMEs with just one reversible phase. The polymer networks are prepared based on poly(ε‐caprolactone) (PCL) and ethyl cellulose (EC); two graft polymers with different lengths of PCL chains are combined to prepare MSMPs by three methods. All of them exhibit well triple‐shape‐memory effects and that of direct mixing of EC‐PCL even shows quadruple‐shape‐memory effects. Moreover, the effects of the thermomechanical conditions on the MSMEs are also investigated and the results demonstrate that the programming conditions have a great impact.