One-Way Multishape-Memory Effect and Tunable Two-Way Shape Memory Effect of Ionomer Poly(ethylene-co-methacrylic acid)

Reversible elongation by cooling and contraction by heating, without the need for repeated programming, is well-known as the two-way shape-memory effect (2W-SME). This behavior is contrary to the common physics-contraction when cooling and expansion when heating. Materials with such behavior may find many applications in real life, such as self-sufficient grippers, fastening devices, optical gratings, soft actuators, and sealant. Here, it is shown that ionomer Surlyn 8940, a 50-year old polymer, exhibits both one-way multishape-memory effects and tunable two-way reversible actuation. The required external tensile stress to trigger the tunable 2W-SME is very low when randomly jumping the temperatures within the melting transition window. With a proper one-time programming, "true" 2W-SME (i.e., 2W-SME without the need for an external tensile load) is also achieved. A long training process is not needed to trigger the tunable 2W-SME. Instead, a proper one-time tensile programming is sufficient to trigger repeated and tunable 2W-SME. Because the 2W-SME of the ionomer Surlyn is driven by the thermally reversible network, here crystallization and melting transitions of the semicrystalline poly(ethylene-co-methacrylic acid), it is believed that a class of thermally reversible polymers should also exhibit tunable 2W-SMEs.