Porous recyclable sponges with controllable and durable shape memory

Abstract

In recent years, porous shape memory polymers (SMPs) with morphological and functional diversity, durability, flexibility, and recyclability are substantially required because of the increasingly demanding applications. In this study, a porous silicone sponge with exquisite structures, and controllable and durable shape memory property is designed and synthesized by a one pot click reaction, which can respond to two kinds of stimuli including heat and solvent. The sponge can be degraded and the products are used as raw materials for the synthesis of a sponge again, indicating its application potential in green chemistry. The sponge also has high- and low-temperature resistance, and can remove organic solvents from water. After coordination with Eu³⁺, the elasticity of the sponge is significantly improved and the shape memory ability disappears, and fluorescence of the sponge under 365 nm UV light changes from blue to red meanwhile. Due to the good biocompatibility of silicone-based materials, they are expected to be used in the medical and health care fields.