The reinforcement of conductive nano-/micro-fillers in thermoplastic polymers allows for rapid heating upon exposure to electromagnetic (EM) radiation. This phenomenon has been used to create reversible adhesives that allow bonding/removal of substrates via controlled EM exposure.

This process of repeated heating/cooling can introduce thermal and mechanical degradation, which is not well understood. In this work, ferromagnetic nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄) were embedded in ABS polymer using melt-processing. The resulting polymers were subjected to EM heating with varying exposure time and multiple heat/cool cycles. TGA and FTIR spectroscopy were conducted to understand the extent of thermomechanical degradation. Tensile and Izod impact tests were performed on samples post EMI exposure and compared with control samples (no EMI exposure) to understand the effects of degradation. Results indicate that prolonged exposure to induction heating reduces the overall mechanical properties of the reversible polymer. However, repeated heating of ABS/Fe₃O₄ nanocomposites within the melting temperature only effects the ductility, and is attributed to loss of the toughening agent butadiene. Overall, the study creates a first benchmark for a possible path to control EM heating to prevent thermomechanical degradation of reversible thermoplastics.

热塑性聚合物中导电纳米/微填料的增强可在暴露于电磁（EM）辐射时快速加热。这种现象已被用于创建可逆粘合剂，该粘合剂可通过受控的EM暴露来粘合/去除基材。

这种反复加热/冷却的过程可能会导致热降解和机械降解，这还不是很清楚。在这项工作中，铁磁纳米粒子（Fe ₃ O ₄）通过熔融加工嵌入ABS聚合物中。将所得的聚合物以变化的暴露时间和多个热/冷循环进行EM加热。进行了TGA和FTIR光谱分析，以了解热机械降解的程度。在EMI暴露后对样品进行拉伸和艾佐德冲击试验，并与对照样品（无EMI暴露）进行比较以了解降解的影响。结果表明，长时间暴露于感应加热会降低可逆聚合物的总体机械性能。但是，反复加热ABS / Fe ₃ O在熔融温度范围内的_4种纳米复合材料仅影响延展性，并归因于增韧剂丁二烯的损失。总体而言，该研究为控制EM加热以防止可逆热塑性塑料的热机械降解创造了可能的途径的第一个基准。