On the Size Effect of Additives in Amorphous Shape Memory Polymers

EM Zirdehi and H Dumlu and G Eggeler and F Varnik, MATERIALS, 14, 327 (2021).

DOI: 10.3390/ma14020327

Small additive molecules often enhance structural relaxation in polymers. We explore this effect in a thermoplastic shape memory polymer via molecular dynamics simulations. The additive-to-monomer size ratio is shown to play a key role here. While the effect of additive- concentration on the rate of shape recovery is found to be monotonic in the investigated range, a non-monotonic dependence on the size-ratio emerges at temperatures close to the glass transition. This work thus identifies the additives' size to be a qualitatively novel parameter for controlling the recovery process in polymer-based shape memory materials.

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