Applications of Shape Memory Polymers in Kinetic Buildings

Table 1

Potential applications of shape memory polymers in built environments.

Potential application	Principle	Reference
Active building facades with self-regulating sun protectors	A broad melting temperature range of temperature-memory polymers based on crosslinked copolymer networks	[12]
Self-shading articulated surfaces	Two-part SMP filaments with different values, forming variable stiffness tiles that respond to different incident solar heat levels	[65]
Smart building envelopes	Integrated conventional one-way shape memory (SM), two-way reversible SM, and one-way reversible SM in semicrystalline SMPs	[66]
Adaptive building envelopes	Significant reversible elongation resulting from crystallization of crosslinked poly(cyclooctene) films under tensile loads and induced cooling or heating	[67]
Functional smart architecture	Under various constant stresses, phase-segregated poly ester urethanes (PEUs) with two-way shape changes between −20°C∼60°C	[68]
Convertible roofs	Using a layering technique to combine the SMP and elastic polymer, which forms novel polymer laminates with a two-way shape-memory effect (two-way SME)	[69]
Interactive kinetic walls	Reversible actuation of ultrathin semicrystalline polymer films (e.g., thin polycaprolactone-gelatin bilayer films that can be unfolded at room temperature, folded at a temperature above the polycaprolactone melting point, and unfolded again at room temperature)	[70]
Ecological architecture	Bidirectional shape memory polymers that can become repetitively actuated two-way SMPs under stress-free conditions	[71]
Changeable architecture	The design and fabrication of polymer particles with two-way SMP abilities between 0°C∼43°C under stress-free conditions	[72]
Thermally comfortable buildings	Copolymer networks from oligo (-caprolactone) an n-butyl acrylate that enable a reversible bidirectional SME at human body temperature	[73]
Decorative architecture	Larger prestretching of two-way SMPs that can achieve longer actuator lengths without a constant external load	[74]
Intelligent buildings	SMPs with various macromolecular architectures including linear, three-, and four-arm star poly(-caprolactone) that are functionalized with methacrylate end-groups and two-way SMPs; the amount of recovered strain and the time required are decided by the combination of melting, deformation, and recovery temperatures	[75, 76]
Hybrid solar-thermal facades	Optimization of the load and phase morphology, especially the separation/decoupling of blend phases of SMPs, which increases the crosslink density and crystallinity of polymer networks, further enhancing the SME of the SMPs	[77]
Ecological building systems	Fabrication of two-way SMPs with “switch-spring” composition by interpenetration of the polymer network	[78]
Self-regulating shading systems	Higher gel fractions (above 75%) of semicrystalline elastomeric networks in SMPs achieving a two-way SME at low room temperatures	[79]
Architecture-based energy savings	Carbon black nanoparticles have the ability to lower the response temperature range of polyethylene-based SMPs and maximize the actuation ratio selection via optimal loading	[80]