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Abstract

Shape memory polymers (SMPs) have the interesting property that they can recover their original shape after large deformations. Due to their low weight and diversity in terms of molecular architecture, which provides tunable access to a variety of different physical properties, they find increasing applications as functional materials. Examples ranging from solar panels and wing foils to stents, the latter used to widen sclerotic coronary arteries. Developments of SMPs in the biological and medical sector are motivated by the promising biodegradability and biocompatibility of these materials, which makes them superior to metallic shape memory alloys (SMAs), the latter often used as mechanical switches. While the recovery process in SMAs is driven by a diffusion-free martensitic phase transformation, the shape memory effect in polymers has essentially an entropic origin: Upon heating above the glass transition temperature, macromolecules become sufficiently mobile to switch from low entropy stretched conformations into high entropic coil-like ones. In this presentation, I provide a brief survey of these fascinating materials and their applications. I also addresses the new developments in this field pointing towards application in the energy sector.