Material systems and methods of manufacture for auxetic foams

A system for producing an auxetic foam from a foam having an initial volume, the foam comprising a plurality of cells, and further comprising a soft domain, a hard domain, and a filler polymer, the system comprising:

• a pressure chamber configured to compress the foam to a compressed volume less than the initial volume, such that the cells are deformed;
• a cylinder of compressed gas configured to expose the compressed foam within the pressure chamber to the compressed gas, while maintaining the pressure chamber at a predetermined temperature and predetermined pressure for a predetermined time;
• thereby dissolving at least a portion of the compressed gas into the filler polymer and reducing a glass transition temperature of the filler polymer such that the filler polymer transitions from a glassy state to a rubbery state, wherein a shape of the filler polymer changes from generally spherical to generally ellipsoidal when the compressed gas dissolves into the filler polymer;
• and subsequently allowing the foam to reach atmospheric pressure and removing the foam from the pressure chamber such that the filler polymer retains the generally ellipsoidal shape thereby fixing the cells of the foam in the deformed state.