Article
Chemistry, Physical
Ritu Toor, Amanda Neujahr Copstein, Claire Trebuchet, Bertrand Goudeau, Patrick Garrigue, Veronique Lapeyre, Adeline Perro, Valerie Ravaine
Summary: The study explores the use of stimuli-responsive microgels to stabilize coacervates, resulting in the design of polymeric capsules with hierarchical and tunable pore distribution. The coacervate acts as a sequestration core for water-soluble payload, which can be released upon coacervate dissolution, while the membrane exhibits size-selecting permeability and switchable properties.
JOURNAL OF COLLOID AND INTERFACE SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Chaolei Hu, Pit van Bonn, Dan E. E. Demco, Carsten Bolm, Andrij Pich
Summary: This article demonstrates for the first time that mechanochemically triggered free-radical polymerization allows solvent- and initiator-free syntheses of complex functional macro molecular architectures, namely stimuliresponsive microgels. The developed mechanochemical polymerization approach is applicable to a variety of monomers and allows synthesizing microgels with tunable chemical structure, variable size, controlled number of crosslinks and reactive functional end-groups.
ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Yixin Zhang, Hao Tang, Junwei Zhou, Liangshun Zhang, Rong Wang
Summary: It is a challenging task to realize highly reversible ON-OFF nanoswitches over a wide range of temperatures, which emerge as a versatile toolbox for use in nanobiotechnology. In this study, nanoparticles bifunctionalized by DNA strands and stimuli-responsive polymers were successfully used to construct multimodal ON-OFF nanoswitches at lower temperatures. The synergistic effects of stimuli-responsive polymers and the hybridization-dehybridization event of DNA strands contribute to the achievement of the multimodal ON-OFF nanoswitches. The simulations in this study provide fundamental insights and qualitative predictions for the ON/OFF states of DNA-based NPs, which can be applied to the rational design of functionalization molecules for realizing a set of ON-OFF nanoswitches.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY B
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
John J. Bowen, Mark A. Rose, Stephen A. Morin
Summary: This study presents a method for fabricating soft hydrogel actuators that rapidly respond to multiple stimuli using surface molding. The actuators can be controlled rationally through different filler types to respond quickly to stimuli such as humidity, magnetic fields, or light. The reported fabrication strategies will be beneficial for the design and production of programmable soft actuator systems, such as soft robotics.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Elizabeth Howard, Minghao Li, Michael Kozma, Jiayu Zhao, Jinhye Bae
Summary: This study reports the continuous self-strengthening of a nanocomposite hydrogel composed of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) and nanoclay using external stimuli such as heat and ionic strength. The internal structures of the hydrogel are rearranged through swelling-deswelling cycles or immersion in a salt solution, leading to significant improvements in its mechanical properties. The loading ability demonstrates the self-strengthening mechanical performance of the hydrogel.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Zhecun Guan, Lisa Tang, Jinhye Bae
Summary: A method combining microgel jamming and temperature-responsive capillary networking is developed to manipulate the rheological properties of microgel-capillary suspensions. This allows for 3D extrusion and scaling up of complex structures, making it applicable in biomedical and soft material-based actuation fields.
Article
Biophysics
Alberto Guerron, Huu Trong Phan, Carolina Penaloza-Arias, Davide Brambilla, Valerie Gaelle Roullin, Suzanne Giasson
Summary: The attachment/detachment of cells on responsive polymer-coated surfaces is influenced by various factors including electrostatic interactions, wettability and swelling of the polymer coating. In this study, dual thermo- and pH-responsive cationic poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) microgels, surface-functionalized with PEG or PDMAEMA, were used as substrates to investigate their impact on cell behavior. The results showed that microgels with PEG chains had comparable cell adhesion and proliferation rates to controls, while exhibiting the best thermo-triggered cell detachment performance, especially for MCF7 and U138 cells. The hydrophilic nature of the microgel surface remained unchanged regardless of temperature and pH, contributing to this behavior. Swelling behavior influenced by pH resulted in significant cell detachment only for U138 cells. However, detachment of bEnd.3 cells could not be triggered by either temperature or pH, regardless of the microgel surface coating.
COLLOIDS AND SURFACES B-BIOINTERFACES
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Applied
Birgul Kalkan, Nermin Orakdogen
Summary: This study synthesized thermoresponsive semi-interpenetrating polymer networks (semi-IPNs) by varying the content of linear polyacrylamide (PAAm), N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPA), and methacrylic acid (MA). The inclusion of linear PAAm chains increased the crosslinking density and compressive elasticity of the P(NIPA-MA) network. The swelling behavior of the semi-IPN gels was sensitive to the presence of linear PAAm chains, and their equilibrium swelling was decreased compared to the copolymer P(NIPA-MA) network. The prepared semi-IPNs exhibited good adsorption properties for the cationic dye Methyl violet (MV).
REACTIVE & FUNCTIONAL POLYMERS
(2022)
Article
Polymer Science
Dmitry V. Pergushov, Larisa V. Sigolaeva, Nadezhda G. Balabushevich, Timur Z. Sharifullin, Michael Noyong, Walter Richtering
Summary: This study focuses on the use of chargeable stimuli-responsive microgels to modify hydrophobic model surfaces and achieve highly efficient surface modification. The adsorption of dehydrated, uncharged microgels can load bioactive payloads of opposite charge, such as doxorubicin, which can be gradually eluted through washing. The release of doxorubicin from surface-attached microgels can also be induced by linear synthetic polyelectrolytes, demonstrating competitive interactions in ternary systems of microgel, drug, and linear polyion.
Article
Polymer Science
M. Manav, M. Ponga, A. Srikantha Phani
Summary: This study investigates the stress in stimuli-responsive planar polymer brushes using strong stretching theory, and extends the theory to study stimuli-responsive brushes. The predicted swelling ratio of the poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) brush is in good agreement with experimental measurements. The results suggest that the stress in a PNIPAm brush is inhomogeneous, compressive, and increases with graft density, with temperature having contrasting effects on low and high density brushes.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Marcel Rey, Jannis Kolker, James A. Richards, Isha Malhotra, Thomas S. Glen, N. Y. Denise Li, Fraser H. J. Laidlaw, Damian Renggli, Jan Vermant, Andrew B. Schofield, Syuji Fujii, Hartmut Loewen, Paul S. Clegg
Summary: This study investigates the effect of individual microgel morphology on the destabilization of responsive emulsions. The polymeric properties of microgels enable stimuli-responsive behavior while the colloidal properties provide long-term stability to the emulsions.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Wei Wu, Jianxi Liu, Peiwei Gong, Zhihuan Li, Cheng Ke, Yong Qian, Haowen Luo, Lishuang Xiao, Feng Zhou, Weimin Liu
Summary: This study successfully synthesized a core-shell nanoMOFs@PNIPAm microgel hybrid and achieved programmable growth and reversible swelling-collapsing behaviors. The hybrid material shows good performance in both water lubrication and drug release, and exhibits good biocompatibility.
Review
Chemistry, Physical
Xinxing Lin, Xiaolin Wang, Liangpeng Zeng, Zi Liang Wu, Hui Guo, Dominique Hourdet
Summary: This article provides a detailed review of hydrogels with stimuli-responsive toughness, discussing characteristic reinforcement mechanisms and demonstrating smart hydrogels that respond to various stimuli. Special attention is paid to thermal, light, pH, and salt triggers due to their broad applications and easy implementation. In addition, the applications and future development challenges of these smart hydrogels are summarized.
CHEMISTRY OF MATERIALS
(2021)
Article
Polymer Science
Zirong Xu, Kelin Wu, Huayong Luo, Qin Wang, Tian C. Zhang, Xiaobing Chen, Hongwei Rong, Qian Fang
Summary: An electro-responsive hydrogel with semi-interpenetrating polymer networks was explored, showing enhanced swelling capacity and dewatering effects, with potential for improving forward osmosis performance.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED POLYMER SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Inyoung Choi, Saeeun Jang, Seunggyeom Jung, Seohyun Woo, Jinyoung Kim, Cheol Bak, Yongmin Lee, Sukho Park
Summary: This paper presents a 4D printed smart soft carrier with a hemispherical hollow and openable lid. The carrier is made of thermo-responsive hydrogels and utilizes superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles for magnetic control. It can transport cargo underwater and handle living marine organisms. The flexibility of 4D printing allows for customization of the carrier's size, making it adaptable for various objects.
MATERIALS HORIZONS
(2023)
