Thermal, mechanical and electrical studies of novel shape memory polyurethane/polyaniline blends

Shape memory polymer (SMP) blends based on polyurethane (PU) and polyaniline (PANI) were prepared via chemical in situ polymerization process. The thermal, mechanical, electrical and shape memory properties were investigated. The structural characterization and morphology of the polymer blends were inspected by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively. The 1 wt% of PANI loading enhanced the thermal stability of the system up to 339 °C. According to differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), the glass transition temperature (Tg) and melting temperature (Tm) of PU/PANI blends increased with the polyaniline loading (0.1 wt%–1 wt%). Improved mechanical properties such as tensile strength and Young’s modulus of PU matrix were also observed with PANI. Moreover, the electrical conductivity of PU/PANI blends was also found to be a function of PANI loading. Remarkable recoverability of thermally triggered shape memory (SM) behavior to the extent of 96% was achieved for 1 wt% PANI blend.