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Investigation of shape memory and mechanical properties of styrenic thermoplastic elastomer/PCL blends: Effect of blend composition

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Abstract

In this study, heat-responsive shape memory thermoplastic polymer blends were developed using a solution blending technique. The blends consisted of maleic anhydride grafted SEBS (SEBS-g-MA) as the elastomer phase and poly(caprolactone) (PCL) as the switch phase. The investigation focused on understanding the effects of blend composition on morphological and mechanical properties. Blends containing 40 and 50 wt % of PCL (SEBS60 and SEBS50, respectively) exhibited a co-continuous morphology. Increasing the PCL content led to higher Young’s modulus and storage modulus at room temperature, while decreasing the creep strain. Shape-memory tests demonstrated promising results, with shape fixing ratios (Rf) reaching up to 98.54% and shape recovery ratios (Rr) up to 84.01%. Notably, the SEBS60 blend displayed the best shape-memory performance, achieving an Rf value of 97.15% and an Rr value of 76.29%. Cyclic shape-memory tests for the same blend maintained Rf values above 96% and Rr values above 82%.

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Acknowledgments

Supports given by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TUBITAK) (Project No. 221M074) and Yalova University Scientific Research Projects Coordination Department are gratefully acknowledged.

Funding

This work was supported by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TUBITAK) (Project No. 221M074) and Yalova University Scientific Research Projects Coordination Department.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Polymer Materials Engineering, Yalova University, Yalova, 77200, Turkey

    Emre Tekay & Sinan Şen

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  1. Emre Tekay
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  2. Sinan Şen
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Contributions

ET: conceptualization, supervision, methodology design, writing-reviewing-editing of the manuscript, material preparation, and characterizations of the materials. SŞ: writing-reviewing-editing of the manuscript, and characterizations of the materials.

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Correspondence to Emre Tekay.

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Tekay, E., Şen, S. Investigation of shape memory and mechanical properties of styrenic thermoplastic elastomer/PCL blends: Effect of blend composition. Journal of Materials Research 38, 5065–5077 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1557/s43578-023-01225-0

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