Recent progress in shape memory polymer: New behavior, enabling materials, and mechanistic understanding

Shape memory polymers (SMPs), as a class of programmable stimuli-responsive shape changing polymers, are attracting increasing attention from the standpoint of both fundamental research and technological innovations. Following a brief introduction of the conventional shape memory effect (SME), progress in new shape memory enabling mechanisms and triggering methods, variations of in shape memory forms (shape memory surfaces, hydrogels, and microparticles), new shape memory behavior (multi-SME and two-way-SME), and novel fabrication methods are reviewed. Progress in thermomechanical modeling of SMPs is also presented.