Responsive Industrial Polymers: A Marriage of Polyurethanes with Liquid Crystal Elastomers?

Abstract

Responsive polymers have yet to significantly impact the marketplace. In this Perspective, we offer a glimpse of a possible future industrial-scale responsive polymer. We begin by briefly reviewing two different existing polymer materials, one with high volume, excellent processability, and commercial impact (polyurethanes), the other with stimuli responsive functional properties (liquid crystal elastomers). We explore the possibilities of combining the properties of these two disparate entities into a single material. We offer intriguing possibilities for a bulk polymer with both responsivity and processability that could compete in the market with the long-established residents and discuss some of the research roadblocks that need to be overcome to reach this lofty goal.