申请人:Phillips Scott T.
公开号:US20140242623A1
公开(公告)日:2014-08-28
We disclose methods and compositions for preparation of stimuli-responsive plastics that are capable of responding to chemical and/or physical signals in their environment. In one embodiment the plastics consist of patterned mixtures of poly(phthalaldehyde) polymers in which each polymer contains a different end-capping group (also called a “trigger”), responsive to a different signal. Other embodiments use different polymers and different triggers. The plastics may be homogeneous in composition, but each polymer within the plastic is capable of responding to a different signal and depolymerizing once this signal reacts with the trigger. This process of depolymerization enables the plastic to alter its physical features non-linearly to external signals: i.e., the degree of change in physical form is much larger than the intensity of the initial signal.