Co-precipitated poly(vinyl alcohol)/chitosan composites with excellent mechanical properties and tunable water-induced shape memory

The preparation of polymeric materials with high performance and functional performance remains a focus of extensive research. In this paper, a good dispersion of regenerated chitosan (RCS) in the poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and a physical cross-linking network of molecular chain entanglements and hydrogen bonding were realized by unique co-precipitation to prepare composites. Dynamic mechanical analysis and tensile tests demonstrated that RCS...