Sarah M. Brosnan

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Papers

Total Citations

206

H-Index

About

Dr. Sarah M. Brosnan is a pioneering materials scientist whose work has fundamentally redefined the capabilities of smart polymers, particularly in the realm of shape memory elastomers. Her research focuses on the molecular design of stimuli-responsive materials, with a major contribution being the development of "shapeshifting" polymers that can reversibly change shape on demand. Her landmark 2014 paper, cited over 200 times, introduced a groundbreaking strategy for integrating three distinct shape memory behaviors—conventional one-way, two-way reversible, and one-way reversible—into a single semicrystalline elastomer system. This work not only solved a long-standing challenge in the field but also opened new avenues for applications in soft robotics, biomedical devices, and deployable structures. Dr. Brosnan’s innovative approach to reversible shape memory has established her as a leading voice in adaptive materials, earning her recognition for translating complex polymer physics into practical, programmable materials that can "remember" and transform between multiple shapes.