Special Issue "Novel Stimuli-Responsive (co)Polymers"

Guest Editor
Dr. Richard Fu
Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, EH14 4AS UK
E-Mail:

Guest Editor
Dr. Wei Min Huang
School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, 639798 Singapore
Website: http://www3.ntu.edu.sg/home/mwmhuang/
E-Mail:
Interests: shape-memory polymers; shape memory hybrids; shape-memory composites; conductive polymers; polymer nanocomposites

Dear colleagues,

Due to their unique “switchable” properties, stimuli-responsive polymers have been attracting considerable attention in chemistry, chemical engineering, environment, textile, and biotechnology. In recent years, significant progresses in the stimuli-responsive polymers have been witnessed and successful applications have already been demonstrated in actuators, sensors, intelligent textiles, bio-separation and drug delivery systems. The stimuli have greatly expanded from traditional thermo-responsive to photo-responsive, chemo-responsive, etc. This is largely driven by the increasing demanding from numerous real applications, in particular in biomedical related ones, such as drug delivery and medical devices in the minimally invasive surgery.
This special issue, entitled “Novel Stimuli-Responsive (co)Polymers”, aims to provide a channel to timely showcase the recent development in material science, processing and technologies, as well as applications within this exciting field. In addition, review papers are welcome to feature the progress in a particular area.

Dr. Richard Fu
Dr. Wei Min Huang
Guest Editors

Submission Information

All manuscripts should be submitted to polymers@mdpi.org with a copy to the Guest Editor. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. Papers will be published continuously (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are refereed through a peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed Open Access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. For the first couple of issues, to be published in 2009 and 2010, the Article Processing Charges (APC) will be waived for well-prepared manuscripts. English correction and/or formatting fees of 250 CHF (Swiss Francs) will be charged in certain cases for those articles accepted for publication that require extensive additional formatting and/or English corrections.

• stimulus-responsive
• (co)polymers
• smart polymers
• shape memory polymers
• piezoelectric polymers
• sensors
• actuators

Type of Paper: Review
Title: Hybrid Lattice Particle Modeling Approach for Polymeric Materials Subject to Extreme Loadings
Author: G. Wang
Affiliation: Department of Civil Engineering, University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS, 38677-1848, USA; E-Mail: gewang@olemiss.edu
Abstract: Hybrid Lattice Particle modeling (HLPM) is an innovative particulate dynamics approach that is established based on a combination of the particle modeling (PM) technique with the conventional lattice modeling (LM) theory. It is developed for the purpose of simulating the dynamic fragmentation of solids under high strain rate loadings at macroscales with a varying Poisson's ratio. HLPM is conceptually illustrated by fully dynamic particles (or “quasi-particles”) placed at the nodes of a lattice network without explicitly considering their geometric size. The interaction potentials among the particles can employ either linear (quadratic) or nonlinear (Leonard-Jones or strain rate dependent polynomial) type as the axial/angular linkage. The defined spring constants are then mapped into lattice system, which are in turn matched with the material’s continuum-level elastic moduli, strength Poisson's ratio and mass density. As an accurate dynamic fracture solver of materials, HLPM has its unique advantages over the other numerical techniques which are mainly characterized as easy preparation of inputs, high computation efficiency, ability of post-fracture simulation and a multiscale model, etc.
This paper is to review the HLPM of dynamic fragmentation of polymeric materials with good accuracy. Polymeric materials, including nylon 6-6, vinyl ester and epoxy, are accounted for under the loading conditions of tension, indentation and punctuation.

Type of Paper: Review
Title: Stimuli Responsive Polymers for Crop Protection
Authors: Serban F. Peteu, Florin Oancea
Affiliation: Research & Development Institute for Plant Protection, CP 013813 Bucharest, Romania; Email: sfpeteu@umich.edu (S.F.P.)
Abstract: This review will outline some recent reports of responsive release polymer methods with their application to plant protection. The focus will be on the fabrication of micro- and nano-scale polymers. Also, current and future developments are being discussed from the perspective of their applicability to controlled release of plant protection products, including microbial, pheromones,insect growth regulators, and micronutrients with influence on crop protection. The continued development of stimuli responsive polymers for protection of crops will lead to advances in the sustainable agriculture.

Type of Paper: Review
Title: Intelligent Polymeric Nanocarriers Responding to Intracellular Signals: A New Paradigm of Cytosolic Drug Delivery
Authors: Eun Seong Lee
Affiliation: Division of Biotechnology, The Catholic University of Korea, 43-1 Yeokgok 2-dong, Wonmi-gu, Bucheon-si, Gyeonggi-do 420-743, Korea; E-Mail: eslee@catholic.ac.kr
Abstract: Intelligent polymers, whose physicochemical properties change with bio-signals such as pH, enzyme, and temperature, have been very attractive in the drug delivery field. The drug-carrier system revolutionized by introducing these polymeric components has recently become a new paradigm for maximizing therapeutic effect of drugs/genes. This review highlights recent studies on stimuli-responding polymeric nanocarriers for effective cytosolic drug delivery, with particular emphasis on tumor treatment.

Type of Paper: Article
Title: Dynamic Response of Anchored Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) Hydrogel Layers to Physicochemical Stimuli
Authors: M. Gianneli ^1,2,3, I. Anac ¹, R. Rostkamp ¹, B. Menges ¹, B. Loppinet ^2,3, U. Jonas ^1,2,3, W.Knoll ⁴ and George Fytas^1,2,3
Affiliations: ¹ Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, P.O. Box 3148, 55128 Mainz, Germany
² FORTH / IESL P.O. Box 1527, 71110 Heraklion, Greece; E-Mail: fytas@iesl.forth.gr
³ Department of Materials Science & Technology University of Crete, Greece
⁴ Austrian Institute of Technology, Donau-City Str.1, 1220 Vienna, Austria
Abstract: In order to use thin films of responsive hydrogels based on poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) as active matrix in sensor applications, detailed knowledge about their structural and dynamical properties as well as their response to external stimuli is required. In this study such dynamical and structural changes by swelling and collapsing were investigated in photocrosslinked and surface attached PNIPAAm copolymer films of 1 µm dry thickness by micro-photon correlation spectroscopy (µPCS) and surface plasmon resonance / optical waveguide spectroscopy (SPR/OWS). The changes in film swelling were induced by variations of the temperature and the concentration of sodium chloride in the aqueous swelling medium. Despite the well-known volume phase transition above a critical temperature of about 32-35°C and salt concentrations above 1 mol L^-1 NaCl, subtle thickness variations observed by SPR/OWS at lower salt concentrations could be correlated with specific changes in the cooperative diffusion of the polymer and a slow dynamic mode.