Fast Chemo-Responsive Shape Memory of Stretchable Polymer Nanocomposite Aerogels Fabricated by One-Step Method

A new type of stretchable poly(caprolactone)/graphene oxide (PCL/GO) aerogel with fast chemo-responsive shape memory effect is fabricated by one-step method of a sol-gel procedure. The PCL/GO aerogels show uniformly circular and interconnected pores formed by twisted PCL nanolayers. GO platelets improve the crystallinity of PCL and increase the fracture stress and strain by 150% and 300% respectively, although the GO loading is only 0.5%. The dramatic increment of break strain is attributed to the uniform and circular pores that can afford large deformation and the interaction of GO and PCL. The aerogels can be programmed by external stress at ambient temperature without heating and recover upon ethyl acetate (EA) in 1 s. The fast chemo-responsive shape recovery is ascribed to the fast wrinkle of the PCL nanolayers that decrease the diffusion time greatly and the interconnected micrometer pores that are in favor of penetrating for EA molecules.