| Abstract: | A series of shape memory polyurethanes (SPU) with different component ratio of PEG, MDI, BDO, and crosslinker DEA were synthesized by stepwise polymerization in DMF. WAXD, SAXS, DMTA, and DTA were used to study the microphase structure of SPU. No obvious phase‐separation and crystalline evidence of the PEG soft segment and hard segment were obtained in this work. The water‐swollen ratio increases with both the increasing molecular weight of PEG soft segment and the decreasing density of the chemical crossbonding. All the samples show good thermally stimulated shape memory properties. When the molar ratio of soft segment to hard segment is close, the shape recovery time reduces along with the increasing density of the chemical crossbonding. When the densities of the chemical crossbonding are similar, the shape recovery time reduces with the increasing molecular weight of the PEG soft segment. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 84: 1504–1512, 2002; DOI 10.1002/app.10357 |
