Morphology and properties of shape memory thermoplastic polyurethane composites incorporating graphene-montmorillonite hybrids

A novel hybrid containing graphene oxide (GO) and montmorillonite (MMT) was first synthesized by solution reaction. Then shape memory thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) composites incorporating MMT-GO hybrid was fabricated via melt blending. Infrared spectra indicated that GO and MMT have been combined together through chemical hydrogen bonding. Tensile tests showed that MMT-GO hybrids provided substantially greater mechanical property enhancement than using MMT or GO as filler alone. With only 0.25 wt % loading of MMT-GO hybrid (the mass ratio of MMT:GO is 1:1), there was a relatively high improvement in tensile properties of TPU composites, compared with those of TPU/GO and TPU/MMT composites at the same filler content. Thermal analysis indicated that MMT-GO hybrids enhanced the thermal decomposition temperatures of TPU composites. Shape memory property tests showed that the shape fixing rate of TPU composites was effectively enhanced by incorporating MMT-GO hybrid. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018, 135, 46149.