Millennium Café: Shape Memory Polymers

Shape memory polymers have many potential applications which includes biomedical devices, smart textiles, and soft robotics. These polymers store elastic energy by freezing stretched polymer chains in an extended state, which is analogous to a spring. I will discuss how the work that can be done by these systems is a combination of elastically stored energy (i.e., a spring) and energy stored through a phase change (i.e., transitioning between crystalline and amorphous solid states) while highlighting opportunities for new interdisciplinary applications.