Patent ID: 7935131

Claim:
A polymer having the formula: —[HB] x -[MOD] y -[XL] z - comprising: i) hydrogen bonding units, HB, having at least one hydrogen bond donor moiety and at least one hydrogen bond acceptor moiety; ii) backbone modifier units, MOD; and iii) crosslinking units, XL, that are capable of forming one or more crosslinks; the indices x, y, and z represent the mole fraction of each unit, the index x is from about 0.1 to about 20, the index y is from about 75 to about 99.8, and the index z is from about 0.1 to about 5; wherein the polymer is characterized by having a shape memory temperature, T SM , such that the polymer can be elastically deformed at the shape memory temperature, and subsequently lowered to a shape memory freezing temperature, T F , and the method of elastic deformation is removed, the polymer will return to its original shape with a rate slower than the rate observed if the method of mechanical elastic deformation were removed at T SM ; provided the shape memory freezing temperature T F is above the glass transition, T G , of the polymer, and provided the polymer is in the amorphous state at T F .