A Facile and General Approach to Recoverable High-Strain Multishape Shape Memory Polymers

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Polymer Chemistry

Background:

• Achieving tunable high-strain multiple-shape memory effects and high recoverability in single polymer networks is challenging for advanced shape memory devices.
• Current multishape shape memory polymers often require complex structural designs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a facile and general approach for creating recoverable high-strain multishape shape memory polymers.
• To overcome the limitations of existing materials in terms of complexity and performance.

Main Methods:

• Random copolymerization of acrylate monomers.
• Incorporation of a chain-extended multiblock copolymer crosslinker.

Main Results:

• The synthesized shape memory networks exhibit a significantly broader glass transition range compared to classical multishape polymers.
• The material demonstrates a tunable high-strain multishape memory effect.
• Recoverable strain as high as 1000% was achieved within a single chemical-crosslinking network.

Conclusions:

• This work introduces a novel thermosetting material with a unique combination of highly recoverable strain and tunable high-strain multiple-shape memory effects.
• The developed method offers a simplified route to advanced shape memory polymers with enhanced properties.