Polymer, Vol.153, 131-138, 2018
Stearic acid infused polyurethane shape memory foams
Shape memory polymer (SMP) foams were fabricated by immersing a polyurethane foam inside stearic acid-isopropyl alcohol solutions of varying concentration. Samples were programmed using a compression press or a dynamic mechanical analyzer (DMA). It was determined that fixity increases with increasing wt% stearic acid, reaching 95% fixity with 29 wt% (1 vol%) stearic acid. Pre- and post-submersion volume measurements reveal that the foam volume increases after the solution treatment. Optical microscopy images illustrate that the stearic acid coats the foam struts, eventually filling the pores at higher stearic acid loading forming a percolating network whose strength increases with increasing stearic acid concentration. The ease of fabrication and the large volume compression that is fixed in the SMP foams is useful for space-filling applications stimulated by heating.