Intelligent Eucommia ulmoides rubber/ionomer composites with thermally activated shape memory and self-healing behaviors

Intelligent Eucommia ulmoides rubber (EUR) and ionomer Surlyn resin (SR) composites were prepared and studied in this manuscript. This is the first paper to combine EUR with SR to prepare composites with both the shape memory effect and self-healing capability. The mechanical, curing, thermal, shape memory and self-healing properties were studied by a universal testing machine, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), respectively. Experimental results showed that the increase in ionomer content not only improved mechanical and shape memory properties but also endowed the compounds with excellent self-healing ability under appropriate environmental conditions. In particular, the self-healing efficiency of the composites reached 87.41%, which was significantly higher than that of the other composites. Therefore, these novel shape memory and self-healing composites can expand the use of natural Eucommia ulmoidesrubber, such as in special medical devices, sensors and actuators.