Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide): experiment, theory and application

Hydrogels for tissue engineering.

A review of stimuli-responsive nanocarriers for drug and gene delivery

Chemical sensors respond to the presence of a specific analyte in a variety of ways. One of the most convenient is a change in optical properties, and in particular a visually perceptible colour change. Here we report the preparation of a material that changes colour in response to a chemical signal by means of a change in diffraction (rather than absorption) properties. Our material is a crystalline colloidal array of polymer spheres (roughly 100 nm diameter) polymerized within a hydrogel that swells and shrinks reversibly in the presence of certain analytes (here metal ions and glucose). The crystalline colloidal array diffracts light at (visible) wavelengths determined by the lattice spacing, which gives rise to an intense colour. The hydrogel contains either a molecular-recognition group that binds the analyte selectively (crown ethers for metal ions), or a molecular-recognition agent that reacts with the analyte selectively. These recognition events cause the gel to swell owing to an increased osmotic pressure, which increases the mean separation between the colloidal spheres and so shifts the Bragg peak of the diffracted light to longer wavelengths. We anticipate that this strategy can be used to prepare 'intelligent' materials responsive to a wide range of analytes, including viruses.

Polymerized colloidal crystal hydrogel films as intelligent chemical sensing materials

Temperature-sensitive aqueous microgels.

Aqueous solutions of poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) show a lower critical solution temperature. The thermodynamic properties of the system have been evaluated from the phase diagram and the heat absorbed during phase separation and the phenomenon is ascribed to be primarily due to an entropy effect. From viscosity, sedimentation, and light-scattering studies of solutions close to conditions of phase separation, it appears that aggregation due to formation of nonpolar and intermolecular hydrogen bonds is important. In addition, a weakening of the ordering effect of the water-amide hydrogen bonds as the temperature is raised contributes to the stability of the two-phase system.

M. Heskins

Papers

Solution Properties of Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)