Solvent Responsive Shape Memory Polymers- Evolution, Current Status, and Future Outlook

Solvent responsive shape memory polymers are smart shape morphing materials that can recover from a fixed shape when stimulated with solvents. Unlike thermally responsive shape memory polymers, these materials have numerous unique advantages that enabled them to grab the attention of the scientific community. Since early 2005, with the inception of the solvent-induced recovery process, the shape memory polymer realm continued to evolve to circumscribe this novel stimulus. With this backdrop, this review attempts to highlight the development and the growth of solvent responsive shape memory polymers along with its recent trends. After introducing the concept of shape memory polymers, the review introduces how the idea of solvent-induced shape memory polymer stemmed along with describing how the response behavior works. A variety of polymer systems are introduced that respond to water and various solvents together with their emerging application in biomedicine and typical sensing operations. Finally, the potentials and the future outlook for improvement are reviewed.