Study on Shape Memory Behavior of Ternary Poly(Lactic Acid)/Poly(Methyl Methacrylate)-grafted Natural Rubber/Natural Rubber Thermoplastic Vulcanizates

ABSTRACT

Here, poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/poly(methyl methacrylate)-grafted natural rubber (NR-PMMA)/natural rubber (NR) ternary blends with co-continuous phase structure were prepared via peroxide-induced dynamic vulcanization. The good compatibility between NR-PMMA with PLA and NR and the interfacial grafting reaction during the preparation process ameliorated the interfacial compatibility between the phases. Therefore, the energy stored in the rubber phases could be effectively transferred to PLA, thus achieving an excellent shape-memory effect even under-repeated shape-memory cycles. Furthermore, by adding 10 wt% NR-PMMA, the TPVs exhibited improved impact strength and tensile strength up to 98.05 kJ/m² and 45.2 MPa, respectively.

KEYWORDS:

• Shape-memory behavior
• poly(methyl methacrylate)-grafted natural rubber
• co-continuous structure
• ternary blends
• interfacial compatibilization

Data availability

The data used to support the findings of this study are included in the article.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Key Projects of Basic Research and Applied Basic Research in Colleges and Universities in Guangdong Province [2018KZDXM004], a Special project for innovation of high-end scientific research institutions in Zhongshan City [2019AG013] and the Opening Project of State Key Laboratory of Materials Processing and Die & Mould Technology (Huazhong University of Science and Technology) [P2019-023].