Blending elastomers and phase change materials is an effective way for developing shape morphing materials including shape memory polymers (SMP). One such example is poly(<i>n-</i>octadecyl acrylate) (PODA) grafted crosslinked polybutadiene (PB) elastomer, where the PODA acts as the side chain crystalline polymer enabling shape fixity while the crosslinked PB drives the shape recovery. This study investigates the versatility of this fabrication technique to synthesize shape memory elastomers by using a glassy thermoplastic precursor monomer, benzyl methacrylate (BM), and an OH functional thermoplastic precursor monomer, 2 hydroxypropyl methacrylate (HPM) as the phase change materials and PB as the elastic network. In both cases, the SMP was formed via free radical polymerization, crosslinking, and grafting of the BM and HPM. The physical properties, along with the thermoresponsive and solvent-responsive shape memory properties of these SMPs, are discussed.

Simultaneous polymerization, grafting, and crosslinking of reactive monomer/polymer blends as a versatile method to develop multi stimuli-responsive shape morphing polymers

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ACS Fall 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.