A shape memory polymer was prepared by melt mixing a semicrystalline maleated polyolefin elastomer (mPOE) with a small amount of polyaniline (PANI) (up to 15 wt.%) in an internal mixer. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), FTIR analysis, DMA, DSC, melt rheological analysis, and a tensile test were performed to characterize the structure and properties of the mPOE/PANI blends. The results revealed that the blends form a physically crosslinked network via the grafting of PANI onto the mPOE chains, and the PANI dispersed at the nanometer scale in the POE matrix served as a photo-thermal agent and provided increased crosslinking points. These structural features enabled the blends to exhibit a shape memory effect upon near-infrared (NIR) light irradiation. With increasing PANI content, the shape recovery rate of the blend under NIR stimulation was improved and reached 96% at 15 wt.% of PANI.
Control of bipolar conduction is essential to improve the high-temperature thermoelectric performance of materials for power generation applications. Recently, Hf(Te1−xSex)2 alloys have gained much attention due to their potential use in thermoelectric power generation. Increasing the Se alloying content significantly increases the band gap while decreasing its carrier concentration. These two factors affect bipolar conduction substantially. In addition, the weighted mobility ratio is estimated from the experimental electronic transport properties of Hf(Te1−xSex)2 alloys (x = 0.0, 0.025, 0.25, 0.5, 1.0) by using the Two-Band model. From the bipolar thermal conductivity also calculated using the Two-Band model, we find that it peaks near x = 0.5. The initial bipolar conductivity increase of x < 0.5 is mostly due to the decrease in the weighted mobility ratio and carrier concentration with increasing x. For x > 0.5, the drop in the bipolar conductivity can be understood with significant band gap enlargement.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.