Effect of Nanofiller Dispersion on Morphology, Mechanical and Conducting Properties of Electroactive Shape Memory Poly(Urethane-Urea)/Functional Nanodiamond Composite

Abstract

In this attempt, segmented poly(urethane urea) was prepared from polycaprolactone triol (soft segment), 1,3- bis(isocyanatomethyl)cyclohexane (hard segment) and 4,5-diaminophthalonitrile (chain extender). Acidfunctionalized nano-diamond was used as nano-filler. The nanocomposites were processed using solution casting and melt blending. Unique morphology was observed by SEM due to generation of crosslinked polyurethane and ND network. The s-PUU/ND 10 depicted 6 % increase in tensile strength compared with m-PUU/ND 10. 10 wt. % ND loading via solution route increased conductivity to 0.089 Scm -1 relative to m-PUU/ND 10 (0.057 Scm -1 ). Electrical conductivity of nanocomposites was enough to show electroactive shape recovery of 95 % (40 V).