Newly developed shape memory polymer to potentially outshine previously existing ones

RAMAT GAN, Israel - Nov. 15, 2021 - PRLog -- These materials have two different states, the original state - which is its original shape and structure, and the secondary state - which is often called its deformed state.

The deformed state of the polymer is possible with the dynamic bonds existing due to molecular changes on the material itself, and can be reversed by heat and/or light. The polymer then returns to original form by releasing its stored entropic energy, and this is the current challenge for such materials, as it requires the polymer itself to be able to store more energy if the task that it is designed for would require more movements.

Because of these, researcher Zhenan Bao and his team wanted to develop a new material altogether that can outperform the existing ones. They've reported in ACS Central Science that a new shape memory polymer was developed by the team and is able to store up to almost 6 times than that of existing ones.

The researchers designed the polymer to be stable on its elongated state, or more commonly called deformed state, so that the energy that can be stored and used is increased. They used methylene bisphenylurea units and turned it into a propylene glycol polymer backbone. In the original state of the polymer itself, the chains of the polymer are disordered and tangled.

When entering the deformed state via stretching, the chains would align and hydrogen bonds are formed between the chain's urea groups, stabilizing the elongated state via super molecular structures. It would then revert back to the original form when the polymer is exposed to heat.

On its deformed state, the polymer can stretch for up to 5 times its original length and was able to store energy levels that are 6 times more compared to previous polymers.

This means it would be able to at least lift objects that are about five thousand times the weight of the polymer itself upon energy release when in deformed state going back to original state, which expands the possibilities for memory polymers. They highlighted that the materials are easily procured and the production Is also relatively easy.

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