Lignin-derived High-performance Near-infrared Light-responsive Shape Memory Polyurethanes for Biomedical Applications

Su-Yang Dai; Jia-Yue Li; Ling-Chen Mao; Dan-Hua Zhou; Yu Zhang; Zhi-Hua Gan; Zhen-Bo Ning; Yun-Feng Lu

doi:10.1007/s10118-026-3574-0

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Lignin-derived High-performance Near-infrared Light-responsive Shape Memory Polyurethanes for Biomedical Applications

RESEARCH ARTICLE | Updated：2026-03-26

- Lignin-derived High-performance Near-infrared Light-responsive Shape Memory Polyurethanes for Biomedical Applications
- Chinese Journal of Polymer Science Vol. 44, Issue 4, Pages: 1090-1101(2026)
- Affiliations：
  
  a.State Key Laboratory of Organic-Inorganic Composites, Beijing Laboratory of Biomedical Materials, College of Life Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
  b.Innovation Laboratory for Sciences and Technologies of Energy Materials of Fujian Province (IKKEM), Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China
  c.Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
  d.Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
- Author bio：
  
  zhoudh@xmu.edu.cn (D.H.Z.)
  zhangyu@ipe.ac.cn (Y.Z.)
  zbning@mail.buct.edu.cn (Z.B.N.)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1007/s10118-026-3574-0
  CLC：
- Received：10 December 2025，
  
  Accepted：14 January 2026，
  
  Online First：05 March 2026，
  
  Published：05 April 2026
- Accepted：
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Dai, S. Y.; Li, J. Y.; Mao, L. C.; Zhou, D. H.; Zhang, Y.; Gan, Z. H.; Ning, Z. B.; Lu, Y. F. Lignin-derived high-performance near-infrared light-responsive shape memory polyurethanes for biomedical applications. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2026, 44, 1090–1101

Su-Yang Dai, Jia-Yue Li, Ling-Chen Mao, et al. Lignin-derived High-performance Near-infrared Light-responsive Shape Memory Polyurethanes for Biomedical Applications[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 44(4): 1090-1101.
Dai, S. Y.; Li, J. Y.; Mao, L. C.; Zhou, D. H.; Zhang, Y.; Gan, Z. H.; Ning, Z. B.; Lu, Y. F. Lignin-derived high-performance near-infrared light-responsive shape memory polyurethanes for biomedical applications. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2026, 44, 1090–1101 DOI： 10.1007/s10118-026-3574-0.

Su-Yang Dai, Jia-Yue Li, Ling-Chen Mao, et al. Lignin-derived High-performance Near-infrared Light-responsive Shape Memory Polyurethanes for Biomedical Applications[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 44(4): 1090-1101. DOI： 10.1007/s10118-026-3574-0.

摘要

Demethylated dealkaline lignin (DDL) was used to prepare polyurethane followed by Fe

complexation to form DDL-Fe

complexes. This strategy significantly enhanced the photothermal performance of natural lignin. The resulting PU-DDL+Fe

polyurethane exhibits excellent NIR light-responsive shape memory performance with good mechanical properties and biocompatibility.

Abstract

Near-infrared (NIR) light-responsive shape memory polymers (SMPs) show great promise for biomedical applications

but conventional photothermal agents suffer from high cost

complex preparation

or poor biocompatibility

while lignin-based alternatives exhibit insufficient photothermal conversion efficiency. Herein

we developed a novel strategy to enhance photothermal performance of lignin through sequential demethylation modification and Fe

complexation for constructing NIR light responsive SMPs. Dealkaline lignin (DL) was first demethylated using iodocyclohexane to produce demethylated lignin (DDL) with increased catechol content

which was then incorporated into polycaprolactone-based polyurethane synthesis followed by Fe

complexation. Results showed that DDL-Fe

complexes have signific

antly enhanced photothermal conversion performance

and the resulting PU-DDL+Fe

polyurethane with 0.5 wt% DDL content demonstrated a temperature increases of 39.8 °C under 0.33 W·cm

–2

808 nm NIR irradiation. This excellent photothermal performance enables the shape-fixed PU-DDL+Fe

polyurethane to rapidly recover to its initial shape under NIR light irradiation. Additionally

PU-DDL+Fe

polyurethane exhibits good mechanical properties and biocompatibility

demonstrating significant biomedical application potential.

关键词

Keywords

references

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