Thermal and mechanical characterization of graphene nanoplatelets/shape memory polymer nanocomposites

Shape memory polymers in recent years can be named as one of the most important materials developed. It is of great technological and scientific importance with its ability to react to external stimuli and to restore the deformation of the material to its original state. Thanks to the potential of shape memory polymers, it has a wide range of uses in advanced aerospace, commercial applications, and biomedical fields. The biocompatibility of polyurethane-based shape memory polymers has made these materials suitable for medical products. In recent years, with the positive results obtained in studies on the biocompatibility of graphene-based materials, the number of studies in the biomedical field has increased. In this study, it was aimed to improve the thermal and mechanical properties of SMP MP3510 polyurethane-based polymer produced by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries without losing its biocompatibility feature. Differential scanning calorimeter and thermogravimetric analyzes to examine the thermal properties of nanocomposites obtained by adding 0.1%, 0.3% and 0.5% by weight graphene nanoplatelets using a hybrid method including ultrasonic mixing-high-speed mechanical mixing and high-speed mechanical mixing method, 3-point bending test and Shore D hardness test to examine their mechanical properties, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis to examine the chemical structure, scanning electron microscopy to examine the distribution of graphene nanoplatelets from the cross-sectional area of nanocomposites, and atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy analyzes to examine the effect of graphene nanoplatelets on the surface morphology of nanocomposites were carried out.