Stimuli-responsive polymers, which are a class of “smart” materials, exhibit a dramatic change in their properties in response to the application of an environmental stimulus, such as temperature, ionic strength, pH, solvent polarity, electric or magnetic fields, biological analytes, etc. According to the kind of stimulus that they respond to, such materials can be classified into photo-, chemo-, electro-, mechano-active polymers, etc. Examples include liquid crystal polymers, polymer solutions and gels capable of undergoing phase transition, electro- and magnetorheological fluids, electro-active polymers (EAPs). Polymers of this type are being developed for potential uses in fields as diverse as bulk engineering and microscale medicine.
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