The shape-memory effect, as exhibited by metal alloys such as nitinol as well as many polymers, is the ability of a material to change its dimension in a predefined way in response to an external ...

The technique of keyhole surgery minimises scarring, speeds healing and reduces the risk of infection. However, it is extremely difficult to carry out delicate surgical procedures accurately in a ...

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology are developing unique polymers, which change shape upon heating, to open blocked arteries, probe neurons in the brain and engineer a tougher spine.

Researchers have developed a shape memory polymer that stores almost six times more energy than previous versions. When stretched or deformed, shape memory polymers return to their original shapes ...

Imagine a world of shape-shifters. A surgeon inserts a small lump of plastic into an anesthetized patient and, like magic, it expands into a life-saving mesh tube that keeps a formerly clogged artery ...

With 4D printing, the objects can change shape or properties using external stimuli such as temperature, light, pH, magnetic field, electricity, and moisture. Additionally, the changes in shape or ...

Using components made from smart shape-memory materials with slightly different responses to heat, researchers have demonstrated a four-dimensional printing technology that allowed creation of complex ...

A recent article published in Small Science introduces fully bioderived, four-dimensional (4D) printable shape memory polymers (SMPs) with linear tunability and remotely controlled actuation ...

Polymers that exhibit shape-memory effect (SME) are an important class of materials in medicine, especially for minimally invasive deployment of devices. Professor Subbu Venkatraman and his group from ...