Restoration Temperature Control through Glass Transition Temperature Modulation of Shape Memory Polymer for Thermally...

Shape memory polymers (SMPs) undergo changes between arbitrary shapes and programmed shapes upon exposure to specific stimulus, allowing them to restore their original shape. All kinds of external stimuli have a threshold to change the shape of the SMP. Especially, for the thermal type SMP, the critical temperature for shape restoration is typically near the glass transition temperature (T_g). In this study, the controllability of the restoration temperature is analyzed by adjusting the T_g of the polymer using Norland Optical Adhesive 63, which can be cured with UV irradiation. By varying the ambient temperature from 20 to 120 °C during UV exposure, T_g changes ranging from 35.84 to 50.50 °C are obtained, with corresponding changes in restoration temperature. As a practical application, a thermal-activated SMP dry adhesive is developed with programmable T_g and switchable adhesion. The fabricated SMP dry adhesive exhibited strong adhesion to substrates with various surface roughness. Additionally, the shape memory effect allowed for easy detachment through shape recovery, and different adhesive performances at different temperatures are achieved by programming various T_g values. Moreover, the simple manufacturing process of the SMP dry adhesive is confirmed to be suitable for continuous fabrication processes based on roll-to-roll methods.