Athermal Shape Memory Effect in Magnetoactive Elastomers

Shape memory materials (SMMs) are usually referred to as materials with the ability to recover the original shape via certain thermal stimulations, such as temperature increase. Such shape memory behaviors achieved thermally usually exhibit slow response due to the constraint of thermal conductivity, leaving a big challenge for situations with temperature and speed requirements. In this work, different from previous shape memory mechanisms, an athermal fast-response shape memory effect (SME) based on the manipulation of magnetization profiles is introduced both experimentally and theoretically. Through the new mechanism, the shape information of a hard magnetic-particle-embedded magnetoactive elastomer (H-MAE) can be accurately converted into the distribution of magnetic domains and recorded/memorized in the material. Then, upon the application of an external magnetic field, due to the interactions between magnetic domains and the magnetic field, the recorded shape information can be immediately displayed. To exploit this mechanism, the magnetic actuating properties are analyzed and a new way for information writing and repeatable reading is also realized.