Preparation and Application of Photothermal Smart Hydrogels
A special issue of Gels (ISSN 2310-2861). This special issue belongs to the section "Gel Applications".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2024) | Viewed by 247
Special Issue Editor
Interests: organic photothermal materials; stimulus responsiveness; hydrogel; drug delivery
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Hydrogels are crosslinked networks composed of hydrophilic polymers which have good swelling capacity and can absorb large amounts of water while maintaining structural integrity. They are widely used in drug delivery systems, enzyme immobilization and tissue engineering due to the existence of hydrophilic groups such as the hydroxyl group, carboxyl group and amino group on the polymer chain. Conventional hydrogels are widely used in the biological field. However, the difficulty of achieving exact deformation under external stimuli still limits their application. Therefore, smart hydrogels with stimulus-responsive performance have attracted more and more attention, especially in response to changes in temperature, light, force, electricity, magnetism and pH. Amongst the smart hydrogels, some efforts have been devoted to preparing near-infrared (NIR) laser-triggered, thermally responsive hydrogels, which endows them with an on-demand precise response. The photothermal effect means that the photothermal material is irradiated by a specific wavelength of laser, converting light energy into heat and increasing the local temperature of the material, which is expected to alleviate the problems of energy shortages and disease treatment. The NIR light can be remotely controlled to adjust wavelength and intensity, as compared with other stimuli. More importantly, these NIR laser-triggered thermally responsive hydrogels can be applied in deep-tissue treatments because NIR radiation can penetrate deep into tissues unlike visible light.
Dr. Tao Jia
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- stimulus responsiveness
- photothermal conversion
- drug delivery
- photoacoustic diagnosis
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