Efficient inductively heated shape memory polyurethane acrylate network with silane modified nanodiamond@Fe3O4 superparamagnetic nanohybrid

Abstract Multifunctional magnetic shape memory polymer (SMP) nanocomposites with high sensitivity was synthesized through inclusion of silane functionalized nanodiamond@Fe3O4 (S-NDF) hybrid nanoparticle into polycaprolactone (PCL) based polyurethane acrylate (PUA) matrix followed by in situ crosslinking of the matrix. Highly biocompatible and superparamagnetic nanodiamond(ND)@Fe3O4 nanohybrids were synthesized through in situ co-precipitation method. The morphological analysis suggested that S-NDFs filled PUAs (2 to 9 wt% loadings) well interacted with both soft and hard domains of the matrix. The base polymer and the nanocomposites presented excellent shape fixity ratio (above 97%) and shape recovery ratio (above 99.5%) in hot water. Furthermore, PUA/S-NDF nanocomposites with nanohybrid loading of 9 wt% exhibited excellent shape recovery rate (above 96%) in a very small magnetic field (H = 0.76 kA.m−1) as well as faster magnetic responsiveness compared to Fe3O4 loaded nanocomposites. Moreover, PrestoBlue cell viability assay suggested biocompatibility of the base polymers and the nanocomposites.