Environment-Responsive Polymeric Hydrogels

摘要

Some polymers may respond by changing their physico-chemical perperties when the environmental conditions such as pH, temperature and ionic strength are varied. For example,thermosensentive polymers can exhibit a sharp change in solubility in a solvent such as water at a certain temperature known as the lower critical solution temperature (LCST). The responsiveness of the polymeric materials has important technological implications since they can be employed for various applications. The responsiveness of such polymers can be varied by means of copolymerization, chemical modification of the polymer, or the addition of reagents into the solutions. It is interesting and important to tune predictably the responsiveness of the polymers for the different applications. The sensitivity towards the external environment can be modulated by the relative hydrophilicity of the copolymers, hence the chemical structure and composition of the comonomers used.