the structure characteristic of poly(ionic liquids) and shape memory polymers to design and synthesize microwave induced shape memory polymer composites (SMPC) completely based on polymers. Ionic liquid (IL) monomer ethylene imidazole was synthesized initially
and then ILM was polymerized in poly(vinyl alcohol)/glutaric dialdehyde solution by using in suit polymerization to introduce PIL into PVA matrix
obtaining the PIL/PVA shape memory polymer composites (SMPC). 1H NMR was used to characterize the structure of ILM and PIL to prove the structural accuracy of the targeted compounds. Dielectric performance test results show PIL/PVA samples have high dielectric constant and dielectric loss. The dielectric loss factor of PIL/PVA composites gradually increase when the P[ViEtIm] [BF4] content increases from 0 to 30%
indicating PIL is one effective microwave absorption medium. The bending test results show the composites have good shape memory effect under microwave irradiation. For all samples
the shape fixity ratio nearly gets 100%
and the shape recovery ratio could over 80%. Moreover
the PIL content and the microwave output power have obvious effects on the shape recovery and recovery time. 140 W output power is enough to drive PIL/PVA to recover to its original shape
and the shape recovery could finish within 40 s under 280 W irradiation. When the output power increases to 420 W
SMPC could recover to its original shape within 20 s.