TY - JOUR A1 - Pretsch, Thorsten A1 - Ecker, Melanie A1 - Schildhauer, Markus A1 - Maskos, Michael T1 - Switchable information carriers based on shape memory polymer N2 - Herein we demonstrate the realization of a new technological concept, which enables the use of shape memory polymers (SMPs) as switchable information carriers. At first, we applied a surface-specific dyeing process based on 'guest-diffusion' on two sophisticated polymeric host materials, including a thermoplastic poly(ester urethane) SMP and a thermoset epoxy-based SMP. Upon drying, self-assembly of the dye molecules inside the polymer surfaces occurred, resulting in homogeneous color penetration depths of about 100 µm. Subsequently, the colored surfaces were patterned with quick response (QR) codes. For this purpose, laser ablation was used. The resulting cavity depth was exceeding the color penetration depth. This assured sufficient surface contrast and rendered the QR codes machine-readable. In a progressive approach, two thermo-mechanical functionalization protocols were designed in accordance with the thermal properties of the polymers. As a result of programming, the tag prototypes were converted into stable, temporary shapes with non-decodable QR code information. When thermally triggering the shape memory effect on the functionalized tags, we verified the mostly complete recovery of the polymer surface and the associated restoration into the almost original shape. As such, the QR code could again precisely be read out. We anticipate that tagging products with these information carriers is helpful for the purpose of secure one-time identification. KW - Shape memory polymer KW - Epoxy-based polymer KW - Poly(ester urethane) KW - Thermo-responsive polymer KW - Laser ablation KW - Laser marking KW - QR code KW - Functionalized tags KW - Tag technology KW - Smart tagging KW - Switchable information carrier KW - Authentification KW - Identification KW - Surface-specific dyeing KW - Guest diffusion PY - 2012 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/c2jm16204k SN - 0959-9428 SN - 1364-5501 VL - 22 IS - 16 SP - 7757 EP - 7766 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - Cambridge AN - OPUS4-25737 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bothe, Martin A1 - Emmerling, Franziska A1 - Pretsch, Thorsten T1 - Poly(ester urethane) with varying polyester chain length: Polymorphism and shape-memory behavior N2 - The swelling, viscoelastic, and mechanical behavior of phase-segregated poly(ester urethane) (PEU) block copolymers, composed of 4,4'-methylenediphenyl diisocyanate, 1,4-butanediol as a chain extender, and crystallizable poly(1,4-butylene adipate) (PBA) with molecular weights between 1330 and 4120 g mol-1, are investigated. Wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) is employed to study the overall PEU crystallinity, which increases from 8.6 to 13.6% at higher PBA contents. The existence of two crystalline, polymorphic PBA phases, a thermodynamically stable α phase and a metastable β phase, is confirmed by further WAXS measurements. Calorimetric and thermomechanical investigations give evidence for controllable PBA polymorphic behavior. The crystallization conditions, like the cooling rate, affect the emerging polymorphic mixture, whereas the storage conditions either promote or inhibit the polymorphic (β to α) transition. The introduced concepts represent a new approach for gaining control over programmable thermo­responsiveness, which may be transferable to other shape-memory polymers with polymorphic switching segments. KW - Shape-memory polymers KW - Stimuli-sensitive polymers KW - Poly(ester urethane) KW - Polymorphism PY - 2013 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/macp.201300464 SN - 1022-1352 SN - 1521-3935 VL - 214 IS - 23 SP - 2683 EP - 2693 PB - Wiley-VCH Verl. CY - Weinheim AN - OPUS4-29892 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -