Smart and Shape Memory Polymers

Smart polymers are materials that could exhibit apparent responsive changes to external environment stimulation, such as pH, temperature, light, electrical and magnetic fields, as well as enzymes and chemicals, etc. Shape memory behavior, as one of the unique intelligent characteristics, could endow polymers with recovering their shape via external stimuli. As a result, smart and shape memory polymers (SMPs) exhibit enormous potential capacity for various applications. In this chapter, the feature of SMP was firstly presented and different mechanisms were introduced. Several types of SMPs were then discussed, including gel, polyurethane, resin, etc. Finally, the application and future outlook were described for SMPs.