α-Amino Acid-Based Poly(Ester urea)s as Multishape Memory Polymers for Biomedical Applications

ACS Macro Lett. 2016 Oct 18;5(10):1176-1179. doi: 10.1021/acsmacrolett.6b00648. Epub 2016 Oct 5.

Abstract

The thermal shape memory behavior of a series of α-amino acid-based poly(ester urea)s has been explored. We demonstrate that these materials exhibit excellent shape memory performance in dual- and triple-shape thermomechanical testing. Significant activation of chain mobility above the Tg as well as a hydrogen bonding network provide the basis for shape transformations and recovery. Additionally, we tuned the shape memory properties of these materials with polymer blending, enabling the demonstration of quadruple-shape memory cycles.