This paper presents a concise review on 4D printing of shape memory polymers that focuses on the use of acrylate-based materials using photopolymerization. Stereolithography (SLA), Digital Light Processing (DLP), Inkjet Printing (IJP), and UV assisted Direct ink Writing (UV-DIW) are the photopolymerization printing techniques that uses acrylate-based materials. These acrylate-based feedstocks will be polymerized during printing by the presence of UV light to form shape memory polymers (SMPs). Acrylate-based SMPs will change their shape in response to heat, water, light, and pH. Demonstrated applications of these 4D printed acrylate-bases SMPs are in biomedical, soft robotics, flexible electronics, and structural materials. However, 4D printing is still in the early stage and there are a lot of challenges like enhancing mechanical properties, biocompatibility, limited kind of SMPs, high cost of 4D printing system, and many more that needs to be addressed before a viable product can be produced.
Fiber optimization is one of the key factors in fabricating fiber-reinforced composites. A higher amount of fiber loading does not correspond to improved mechanical and thermal properties of composites. Consequences such as poor fiber wetting, formation of voids, and delamination may arise due to the lower amount of matrix at higher fiber loading. In this study, the loading percentage of nito fibers were varied from 5, 10, and 15 wt%. The mechanical and thermal analysis showed that the composite with the lowest fiber loading percentage showed a better performance compared to the two composites with higher fiber loading. The tensile strength of the said composite increased by 3 MPa while the onset of degradation temperature increased by 30.91°C. The SEM micrographs confirmed that the composites with higher fiber loading percentage suffered poor wettability which resulted in poor adhesion of the fiber to the matrix. The micrographs of the composite with 5 wt% showed a superb fiber-matrix bonding which resulted in a more seamless transfer of heat and stress upon heat and load application. These results proved that optimization of fiber loading percentage is an integral step to fabricate an improved composite material.
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