Issue 7, 2016

Polydopamine coated shape memory polymer: enabling light triggered shape recovery, light controlled shape reprogramming and surface functionalization

Abstract

Photo-active shape memory polymers (SMPs) are considered as a promising candidate for converting light into mechanical energy. However, most known SMPs are only thermo-responsive. To achieve photo-activity, photo-responsive choromophores or fillers usually have to be incorporated from the very beginning of the material synthesis. Here, we introduce a novel post-synthesis approach to endow normal SMPs with photo-active properties using mussel-inspired surface chemistry. Without changing the original properties, the resultant polydopamine (PDA) coated SMPs show an efficient photo-active performance. The coating can be easily patterned and erased, which allows flexible light-triggered 3-D shape deformation of a planar SMP sheet. Moreover, owing to the high chemical activity, the PDA coating also provides a platform to optimize the surface properties of the photo-responsive SMPs through secondary surface modification.

Graphical abstract: Polydopamine coated shape memory polymer: enabling light triggered shape recovery, light controlled shape reprogramming and surface functionalization

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
05 Feb 2016
Accepted
08 Apr 2016
First published
12 Apr 2016
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Sci., 2016,7, 4741-4747

Polydopamine coated shape memory polymer: enabling light triggered shape recovery, light controlled shape reprogramming and surface functionalization

Z. Li, X. Zhang, S. Wang, Y. Yang, B. Qin, K. Wang, T. Xie, Y. Wei and Y. Ji, Chem. Sci., 2016, 7, 4741 DOI: 10.1039/C6SC00584E

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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