A novel high mechanical strength shape memory polymer based on ethyl cellulose and polycaprolactone.

A novel biological friendly shape memory polymer (SMP) based on ethyl cellulose (EC) and polycaprolactone (PCL) was prepared. The network structure of the polymer was formed by linear EC backbones which were linked by grafted PCL chains, and the results showed outstanding mechanical strength and shape memory property of this polymer. The tensile modulus varied from 104.9 to 373.4 MPa while the tensile strength ranged from 155.4 to 323.6 MPa. And the elongations at break were all above 621%. The shape memory switching temperature could be modulated to 37.2°C by decreasing the chain length of graft PCL. As EC and PCL are both biodegradable and biocompatible materials, this new polymer has potential application in biomedical field, like biomedical suture, which would be further studied in the future.