1 - Thermo-responsive polymers: structure and design of smart materials
Abstract
Stimuli-responsive polymers possess the unique property of responding to changes in their microenvironment. Use of thermo-responsive polymers for fabrication of a variety of temperature sensitive switchable materials is a promising area because of their prospective applications in numerous areas including drug delivery, tissue engineering, separation of biomolecules, and sensors. This chapter focuses on structure of different types of thermo-responsive polymers, their temperature-dependent characteristics, and factors affecting their temperature-sensitive behavior. Designing of thermo-responsive polymers into different physical forms, namely, free polymer chains, crosslinked hydrogels and microgels, surface grafted forms, micelles, and polymersomes is discussed, along with their respective applications.
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