Low voltage driven electro-active shape memory composites with 3D AgNWs conductive networks

3-Dimensional silver nanowires (3D AgNWs) conductive networks attached on melamine foams (MFs) were pre-constructed in shape memory epoxy resin through dip-coating and vacuum infusion in this work. Due to the porous structure and excellent mechanical properties of MFs, AgNWs were distributed selectively and stably in the resin, bringing in high conductivity to the composites (∼25 S/cm at 0.8 wt% AgNWs content). Owing to the high conductivity, the composites possess excellent shape memory properties, which can recover in 25 s with ultralow fillers content under 3 V.