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Phase-segregated PEU exhibits two-way shape changes under various constant stresses. Most distinct actuation (expansion on cooling and contraction on heating) can be detected between +60 and -20 °C when the maximum stress applied during a thermo-mechanical pretreatment approached the point where deformation-induced crystallization of the PBA soft segment sets in. The driving forces for the strain-related two-way shape changes consist of PBA crystallization and PBA melting-induced entropy elasticity. At low constant stresses (<1.5 MPa), entropy elasticity also contributes to specimen expansion on cooling. The results of multiple- cycling experiments imply that PEU is an appropriate candidate for the fabrication of thermoresponsive actuators working under constant stress conditions.
Shape memory polymers (SMPs) can change their shape on application of a suitable stimulus. To enable such behavior, a ‘programming’ procedure fixes a deformation, yielding a stable temporary shape. In thermoresponsive SMPs, subsequent heating triggers entropy-elastic recovery of the initial shape. An additional shape change on cooling, i.e. thermoreversible two-way actuation, can be stimulated by a crystallization phenomenon. In this thesis, cyclic thermomechanical measurements systematically determined (1) the shape memory and (2) the actuation behavior under constant load as well as under stress-free conditions. Chemically cross-linked, star-shaped polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane polyurethane (SPOSS-PU) hybrid polymer networks and physically cross-linked poly(ester urethane) (PEU) block copolymers were investigated around the melting and crystallization temperatures of their polyester soft segments. (1) The SPOSS-PUs showed excellent shape fixities and recoverabilities of almost 100% at high cross-linking density, while PEUs exhibited pronounced shape memory properties at increased soft segment content. Furthermore, two-fold programmed SPOSS-PU specimens were able to recover their initial shape in two thermally separated events. Even a neck, which formed during deformation of SPOSS-PUs with high soft segment content, was reversed. (2) In PEUs, globally oriented crystallization on cooling drove expansion of the sample, in particular at high soft segment content and after application of a strong deformation. Melting reversed that orientation; the PEU sample contracted and thereby completed the thermoreversible actuation cycle. Under load, multiple polymorphic phase transitions enabled two successive expansion and contraction steps, while under stress-free conditions various geometric shape changes, including the increase and decrease of PEU sample length and thickness as well as twisting and untwisting could be experimentally witnessed. Such actuation technology allows for entirely new applications, enabling mimicry of reversible, bidirectional and repeated organic movements.