Synthesis of a polycaprolactone-based material with shape-memory and mendability

Abstract

A new thermoset has been prepared from a bismaleimidic terminated polycaprolactone polyester and a tris-furan compound acting as a crosslinker via the Diels-Alder reaction between the furan and maleimide functionalities. Owing to the reversibility of the Diels-Alder chemistry and the increased mobility of the crosslinked polyester chains, this material had the ability to mend scratches under mild temperature conditions. The synthesized precursors and resulting crosslinked material were characterized using ¹H NMR, FT-IR, GPC, TGA and DSC methods. The scratch mendability of the material was investigated using optical microscopy.