Effect of Alumina Nanoparticles on the Enhancement of Shape Memory, Mechanical and Impact Properties of TPU/ABS blend

In this paper, the shape memory, mechanical and Izod impact properties of a new shape memory nanocomposite based on thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and alumina nanoparticles were investigated. The morphological results showed that the presence of 1% alumina nanoparticles made a reduction in diameter of ABS domains and caused a uniform distribution of the ABS phase into the TPU matrix. Surprisingly, the addition of 2 and 3% alumina made the ABS domain larger. We found that this increment in size of droplets can be attributed to the nanoparticle migration into ABS phase in more concentration and agglomeration of nanoparticles which can worsen the compatibility of the blend. In all samples, the tensile strength and impact resistance first increased and then decreased significantly when the content of alumina was more than 1 wt%. Furthermore, the shape memory investigation showed that the shape recovery and fixity of neat TPU/ABS blend improve significantly by presence of alumina nanoparticles. The shape recovery ratio increased from 93.88% for the neat TPU/ABS to 98.99% by loading only 1 wt% nano alumina and, the shape fixity changes from 92.98% to 99.8% by loading 3% alumina nanoparticles.