Enhancement of shape memory properties of thermo-responsive copolymers-based 2-hydroxy propyl methacrylate and n-isobornyl acrylate

• Published in: Journal of thermal analysis and calorimetry 2022-12, Vol.147 (23), p.13313-13328
• Main Authors: Benkhelifa, Ahlam, Boudraa, Kamel Eddine, Bouchaour, Tewfik
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Analysis; Analytical Chemistry; Calorimetry; Chemical properties; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Copolymers; Dynamic mechanical analysis; Fourier transforms; Glass transition temperature; High temperature; Hydroxypropyl methacrylate; Infrared analysis; Infrared spectroscopy; Inorganic Chemistry; Measurement Science and Instrumentation; Molecular dynamics; Monomers; Optimization; Physical Chemistry; Polymer Sciences; Shape memory
• ISSN: 1388-6150; 1588-2926
• DOI: 10.1007/s10973-022-11532-z

The objective of this contribution is the synthesis and characterization of novel thermo-responsive shape memory polymer (SMP) based on the acrylic monomers 2-hydroxy propyl methacrylate (2-HPMA) and n-isobornyl acrylate (n-IBoA). The studied systems are characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). In addition, a molecular dynamics (MD) simulation is implemented by introducing a new comprehensive atomistic model for the generation and property evaluation of the SMPs. The influence of monomer amount on the thermal, mechanical, and shape memory properties is investigated, and the findings reveal that all the SMPs exhibit a single glass transition temperature, which can be adjusted by the variation of n-IBoA monomer concentration. However, DMA analysis demonstrates that the high values between the glassy and rubbery modulus ( E g / E r ), more than two orders, facilitate the deformation of SMPs at high temperatures. Similar results are obtained from molecular dynamic simulation; the measurements of the shape memory cycle show that the increase in n-IBoA content in the elaborated systems significantly improves the shape recovery ratio of the SMPs, while the highest value of shape fixity was obtained by the material with the lower amount of n-IBoA monomer introduced. In brief, these results showed that the synthesis of SMPs with a high amount of n-IBoA can present potential applications in many areas due to its excellent shape memory performance and provides promising indications for optimization of the shape memory properties of other materials.