New Design of Shape Memory Polymers Based on Natural Rubber Crosslinked via Oxa-Michael Reaction

Shape memory polymers (SMPs) based on natural rubber were fabricated by crosslinking epoxidized natural rubber with zinc diacrylate (ZDA) using the oxa-Michael reaction. These SMPs possessed excellent shape fixity and recovery. The glass transition largely accounted for the fixing of the SMPs temporary shape. Increasing the ZDA content allowed the trigger temperature (20–46 °C) and recovery time (14–33 s) of the SMPs to be continuously tuned. Nanosized silica (nanosilica) was incorporated into the neat polymers to further increase the flexibility and tune the recovery stress. The nanosilica–SMPs exhibited exceptionally high strength in a rubbery state (>20 MPa). The nanosilica–SMPs exhibited high transparency, making them suitable in visible heat-shrinkable tubes.