Biomedical Applications of Polymeric Materials and Composites by Francis Raju Kumar D. Sakthi & D. Sakthi Kumar

Author:Francis, Raju,Kumar, D. Sakthi & D. Sakthi Kumar
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9783527690923
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Published: 2016-11-07T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

Properties of Stimuli-Responsive Polymers

Raju Francis, Geethy P. Gopalan, Anjaly Sivadas and Nidhin Joy

8.1 Introduction

The most energizing and rising class of materials that can react to an external stimulus is referred to as stimuli-responsive polymers. A lot of work has been devoted to developing ecologically delicate macromolecules that can be created into novel smart materials. They can be classified according to the stimuli they respond to such as temperature, pH, ionic strength, light, electric, and magnetic field. Some polymers respond to a combination of two or more stimuli. Another basis of classifying these polymers is their physical form, that is, free chains in solutions, chains grafted on a surface, covalently cross-linked gels, and reversible or physical gels. Stimuli responsive changes in shape, surface qualities, dissolvability, and arrangement of a perplexing molecular self-assembly and a sol–gel transition have empowered a few novel applications in the conveyance of therapeutics, cell culture, tissue engineering, sensor or actuator frameworks, bioseparations, immobilized biocatalysts, drug conveyance, bioseparations, thermoresponsive surfaces, biomimetic actuators, and bioconjugates [1, 2].

Stimuli are commonly classified into three categories – physical, chemical, and biological [3, 4] – as shown in Figure 8.1 [5]. Physical stimuli, such as temperature, ultrasound, magnetic, light, mechanical, electrical, and so on, generally transform chain dynamics, but chemical stimuli, such as solvent, electrochemical, pH, ionic strength, and so on, modulate the molecular interactions, whether between polymer and dissolvable particles or between polymer chains. Biological stimuli such as enzymes and receptors impact the actual functioning of molecules, that is, enzymatic reactions and receptor recognition of molecules. Moreover, there are dual-responsive polymers that concurrently respond to more than one stimulus.

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