(566a) Fast Responsible Water Stimulated Shape Memory Aerogel From Native Cellulose Nanofibers

Recently, shape-memory materials have attracted significant attention from both industrial and academic researchers due to their useful and fascinating functionality. Shape memory materials have great potential for application in sensors, actuators, smart devices, and media recorders. For example, shape-memory materials have been instrumental in significantly improving the quality of diagnostics, treatments, and surgeries. 

Water-driven shape-memory material is a relatively new type of materials that was reported recently by Huang et al.  The effects of moisture on the polymer glass transition temperature can be utilized for water triggered shape recovery of polyurethane.  Moisture controlled shape-memory hydrogels made from crosslinked poly(vinyl alcohol) were also reported.  Chitosan based self-expandable biodegradable stents, crosslinked with ethylene glycol diglycidyl ether and blended with glycerol and PEO, were prepared by Chen et al.

In this study, we report a robust aerogel from chemically crosslinked native cellulose nanofibers that show superabsorbency of water and unique fast shape recovery behavior under water actuation.  The water-driven shape-memory materials could be potentially used as new biomedical engineering materials.