TY - JOUR A1 - Pretsch, Thorsten T1 - Review on the functional determinants and durability of shape memory polymers JF - Polymers N2 - Shape memory polymers (SMP) belong to the class of stimuli-responsive materials and have generated significant research interest. Their capability to retain an imposed, temporary shape and to recover the initial, permanent shape upon exposure to an external stimulus depends on the "functional determinants", which in simplistic terms, can be divided into structural/morphological and processing/environmental factors. The primary aim of the first part of this review is to reflect the knowledge about these fundamental relationships. In a next step, recent advances in shape memory polymer composites are summarized. In contrast to earlier reviews, studies on the impairment of shape memory properties through various factors, such as aging, compression and hibernation, lubricants, UV light and thermo-mechanical cycling, are extensively reviewed. Apart from summarizing the state-of-the-art in SMP research, recent progress is commented. KW - Shape memory polymer KW - Active polymer KW - Shape memory polymer composite KW - Shape memory properties KW - Functionality KW - Degradation KW - Aging KW - Functional determinants KW - Thermo-mechanical testing KW - Durability PY - 2010 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-217390 UR - http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/2/3/120/pdf DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/polym2030120 SN - 2073-4360 VL - 2 IS - 3 SP - 120 EP - 158 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-21739 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -