Influence of Programming and Recovery Parameters on Compressive Behaviors of 4D‐Printed Biocompatible Polyvinyl Chloride or Vinyl–Poly(ε‐Caprolactone) Blends

Abstract

This paper introduces a new class of bio‐compatible shape memory polymers (SMPs) through blending PVC and PCL. The compressive shape‐memory behaviors of 4D‐printed SMP PVC with 5 and 10%wt of PCL are studied in detail. In this respect, a set of experiments are carried out to understand thermo‐mechanical responses of PVC‐PCL blends under various shape memory parameters like programming temperature, load holding time, applied strain and recovery temperature. DMTA and SEM imaging are also performed to provide thermal and morphological analyses. It is found that by raising the recovery temperature from 45 to 65°C, the shape recovery ratio increases from 5.63MPa to 7.92MPa when the PVC‐PCL10 is programmed via the hot programming protocol. The highest level of shape fixity (100%) and the best performance of stress relaxation are achieved for hot programming sample, while the highest shape recovery ratio (100%) is obtained for cold programming. By applying the load holding time, the amount of shape fixity can reach from 88.14% to 100%. Results of this research are expected to provide an insightful understanding of the shape memory behaviors of PVC‐PCL and be instrumental for 4D printing and programming of shape adaptive structures like shape‐memory intervertebral cages as spinal support devices.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.