The relevance of molecular weight in the design of amorphous biodegradable polymers with optimized shape memory effect

The shape memory effect (SME) has long been the focus of interest of many research groups that have studied many facets of it, yet to the authors’ knowledge some molecular parameters, such as the molecular weight, have been skipped. Thus, the aim of this work is to offer further insight into the shape memory effect, by disclosing the importance of the molecular weight as the relevant parameter dictating the extension of the rubbery plateau, which is the scenario where the entropic network of entanglements manifests. For this, a set of biodegradable amorphous poly(rac-d,l)lactides have been synthesised by ring opening copolymerization of a racemic mixture of L-and D-lactide. The analysis performed on the synthesised enantiomeric copolylactides includes the determination of molecular weights by means of Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC), thermal properties by Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and rheological tests using small amplitude oscillatory flow analysis. Shape memory properties have been determined by means of specific cyclic thermo-mechanic test protocol. It has been shown that the recovery capacity of amorphous PDLLA is linked to the disentanglement time through an exponential law. •The key role of the molecular weight upon the recovery of the shape has been elucidated.•The entanglement network has been characterized in terms of the disentanglement time as defined by the reptation model.•The recovery capacity has been found to be governed by an exponential law of the disentanglement time of the molecular network.