title: New Scalable Approach toward Shape Memory Polymer Composites via "Spring-Buckle" Microstructure Design.
abstract: Shape memory polymers (SMPs) have attracted tremendous research interest since their discovery. However, most advances in research of SMPs are based on molecular designs, i.e., "bottom-up" strategies. Due to the viscoelasticity of polymers, slow and incomplete shape variations are inevitable for most existing SMPs. Here, we propose a simple and scalable approach to design and fabricate SMP composites (SMPCs) based on a "spring-buckle" microstructure design. Specifically, a highly elastic "spring" is employed as a basic skeleton for the SMPCs, onto which self-adhesive and stimuli-responsive "buckles" are installed as reversible switch units. The resultant SMPCs with such "spring-buckle" microstructure enable quick programming at ambient temperature and ultrafast (2-3 s) and nearly complete (∼100%) shape recovery triggered by organic solvents, benefiting from a unique capillary effect. This structural approach provides a novel design philosophy for shape memory materials and opens up new opportunities for their applications in sensor, actuator, aerospace, and other applications.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, Polymer Research Institute of Sichuan University , Chengdu 610065, China.
authors.forename: Xiaodong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, Polymer Research Institute of Sichuan University , Chengdu 610065, China.
authors.forename: Yangyang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, Polymer Research Institute of Sichuan University , Chengdu 610065, China.
authors.forename: Zehang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, Polymer Research Institute of Sichuan University , Chengdu 610065, China.
authors.forename: Xinxing
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7468-3006
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, Polymer Research Institute of Sichuan University , Chengdu 610065, China.
authors.forename: Canhui
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lu
keywords: capillary effect; liquid sensing; microstructure design; natural rubber; polyurethane sponge; shape memory polymer composite