Non-monotonic Information and Shape Evolution of Polymers Enabled by Spatially Programmed Crystallization and Melting

Abstract

Stimuli-responsive polymer materials are a kind of intelligent material which can sense and respond to external stimuli. However, most current stimuli-responsive polymers only exhibit a monotonic response to a single constant stimulus but cannot achieve dynamic evolution. Herein, we report a method to achieve a non-monotonic response under a single stimulus by regionalizing the crystallization and melting kinetics in semicrystalline polymers. Based on the influence of cross-linking on the crystallization and melting kinetics of polymers, we employ light to spatially regulate the cross-linking degree in polymers. The prepared material can realize the self-evolved encryption of pattern information and the non-monotonic shape evolution without complex multiple stimuli. By combination of pattern and shape evolution, the coupled encryption of shape and pattern can be achieved. This approach empowers polymers with the ability to evolve under constant stimulus, offering insights into the functional design of polymer materials.