This paper focuses on the fabrication and characterization of shape memory polymer (SMP) with interspersed carbon-based nanofillers which showed significant improvements in quasi-static and dynamic mechanical properties. These composite shape memory polymers have been fabricated using a specialized acetone solvent mixing technique to achieve high dispersion. The effect of individual and hybrid additions of graphene oxide (GO) and carbon nanotubes (CNT) with a total nanofiller content of 2 wt.% was investigated. These high dispersion SMPs showed significant improvements in tensile moduli (up to 25% over baseline), tensile strength (up to 15% over baseline), and strain to failure (up to 75% over baseline), owing to crack propagation hindrance induced by the carbon nanofillers. Further, dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) showed a minimal reduction in polymer chain mobility and improvements in storage modulus. Dispersion is characterized by micrograph acquisition and subsequent binary image processing.
Details
- Experimental Characterization of Multifunctional Shape Memory Polymers With Carbon-Based Nanofillers
- Roman, Jose (Author, Co-author)
- Chattopadhyay, Aditi (Thesis director)
- Venkatesan, Karthik (Committee member)
- Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
- School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor)
- Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor)