Stimuli-Responsive Polymers: Fabrication and Application

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Smart and Functional Polymers".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 June 2025 | Viewed by 3076

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
The State Key Laboratory and Institute of Elemento-Organic Chemistry, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
Interests: construction of complex nitrogen-containing or oxygen-containing heterocyclic compounds; new method of series cyclization based on alkynyl alcohol or alkynylamine; responsive functional polymers; functional polymer intelligent pesticide additives

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In view of the diverse explorations of functional polymers, we are delighted to open a new Special Issue entitled “Stimuli-responsive Polymers: Fabrication and Applications”.

Responsive-polymer-based materials are capable of altering their chemical and/or physical properties upon exposure to external stimuli. These materials have been intensively studied over the years for a diverse range of applications, e.g., for on-demand drug delivery, tissue generation/repair, biosensing, smart coatings, and artificial muscles. Despite this, there are more unexplored aspects of stimuli-responsive polymers, which include the development of new classes of polymers, responsive factors, and other more applications.

This Special Issue of Polymers will cover a broad range of research activities, such as synthesis, stimuli responsiveness, physical or chemical property changes, and applications, as well as a broad range of polymeric systems such as solutions, films, brushes, self-assembling systems, gels, supramolecular polymers, etc. In addition, review papers featuring progresses in a particular area are welcomed. This Special Issue aims to collect recent findings and comprehensive reviews from experts in this very active field of research and will hopefully be a useful source of information for researchers.

Dr. Lingyan Liu
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • stimuli responsive
  • physical or chemical property change
  • morphology
  • sensors
  • drug delivery

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 2429 KiB  
Article
Controlled Amphiphilicity and Thermo-Responsiveness of Functional Copolymers Based on Oligo(Ethylene Glycol) Methyl Ether Methacrylates
by Aggeliki Christopoulou, Charalampos Kazamiakis, Zacharoula Iatridi and Georgios Bokias
Polymers 2024, 16(11), 1456; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16111456 - 22 May 2024
Viewed by 1220
Abstract
In this work, comb homopolymers as well as comb-type copolymers of thermo-responsive oligo(ethylene glycol methyl ether methacrylate)s, OEGMAs, with various chain lengths (DEGMA, PEGMA500, and PEGMA950 containing 2, 9, or 19 repeating ethylene glycol units, respectively) were synthesized through free [...] Read more.
In this work, comb homopolymers as well as comb-type copolymers of thermo-responsive oligo(ethylene glycol methyl ether methacrylate)s, OEGMAs, with various chain lengths (DEGMA, PEGMA500, and PEGMA950 containing 2, 9, or 19 repeating ethylene glycol units, respectively) were synthesized through free radical (co)polymerization. For the copolymers, either the functional hydrophobic glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) or the inert hydrophilic N,N-dimethylacrylamide (DMAM) were selected as comonomers. The self-assembly and thermo-responsive behavior of the products was investigated through Nile Red fluorescence probing, turbidimetry, and dynamic light scattering (DLS). Interestingly, it was found that all OEGMA-based homopolymers exhibit a tendency to self-organize in aqueous media, in addition to thermo-responsiveness. The critical aggregation concentration (CAC) increases with the number of repeating ethylene oxide units in the OEGMA macromonomers (CAC was found to be 0.003, 0.01, and 0.03% w/v for the homopolymers PDEGMA, PPEGMA500, and PPEGMA950, respectively). Moreover, the CAC of the copolymers in aqueous media is highly affected by the incorporation of hydrophobic GMA or hydrophilic DMAM units, leading to lower or higher values, respectively. Thus, the CAC decreases down to 0.003% w/v for the GMA-richest copolymer of PEGMA950, whereas CAC increases up to 0.01% w/v for the DMAM-richest copolymer of DEGMA. Turbidimetry and DLS studies proved that the thermo-sensitivity of the polymers is governed by several parameters such as the number of repeating ethylene glycol groups in the side chains of the OEGMAs, the molar percentage of the hydrophobic or hydrophilic comonomers, along with the addition of salts in the aqueous polymer solutions. Thus, the cloud point of the homopolymer PDEGMA was found at 23 °C and it increases to 33.5 °C for the DMAM-richest copolymer of DEGMA. Lastly, the formation of a hydrogel upon heating aqueous mixtures of the GMA-comprising copolymers with silica nanoparticles overnight is strong evidence of the functional character of these polymers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Stimuli-Responsive Polymers: Fabrication and Application)
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Review

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16 pages, 10271 KiB  
Review
Recent Progress in Circularly Polarized Luminescent Materials Based on Cyclodextrins
by Chengkai Zhou, Weixing Chang, Lingyan Liu and Jing Li
Polymers 2024, 16(15), 2140; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16152140 - 27 Jul 2024
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Abstract
Circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) materials have been widely used in the fields of bioimaging, optoelectronic devices, and optical communications. The supramolecular interaction, involving harnessing non-covalent interactions between host and guest molecules to control their arrangements and assemblies, represents an advanced approach for facilitating [...] Read more.
Circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) materials have been widely used in the fields of bioimaging, optoelectronic devices, and optical communications. The supramolecular interaction, involving harnessing non-covalent interactions between host and guest molecules to control their arrangements and assemblies, represents an advanced approach for facilitating the development of CPL materials and finely constructing and tuning the desired CPL properties. Cyclodextrins (CDs) are cyclic natural polysaccharides, which have also been ubiquitous in various fields such as molecular recognition, drug encapsulation, and catalyst separation. By adjusting the interactions between CDs and guest molecules precisely, composite materials with CPL properties can be facilely generated. This review aims to outline the design strategies and performance of CD-based CPL materials comprehensively and provides a detailed illustration of the interactions between host and guest molecules. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Stimuli-Responsive Polymers: Fabrication and Application)
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