The plasma polymerization of NIPAAM and titanium isopropoxide monomers into responsive ultrathin films with responsive optical properties using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition is reported. The composite ultrathin films possess a large window for potential changes in their refractive index from 1.60 to 1.95. We demonstrated that these polymer films exhibit fast (transition time below 2...

Hydrogels have been an active area of research for a variety of applications due to their ability to retain large volumes of water within their polymer gel networks. Stimuli-responsive hydrogels provide the added advantage of the ability to control the water retention by means of external stimuli. For example, N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm) is a thermosensitive hydrogel that exhibits a Lower Cr...

Stimuli responsive pH- and temperature-sensitive hydrogel drug delivery systems, as those based on N-isopropylacrylamide (NiPAAm) and itaconic acid (IA), have been attracting much of the attention of the scientific community nowadays, especially in the field of drug release. By adjusting comonomer composition, the matrix is enabled to protect the incorporated protein in the highly acidic enviro...

We investigated the self-oscillating behaviors of two types of polymer chains induced by the Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction. One consisted of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm) and the Ru catalyst of the BZ reaction, and the other consisted of NIPAAm, the Ru catalyst, and acrylamide-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid (AMPS) with a negatively charged domain as a solubility control site. A comparison o...

Two revisited mathematical kinetic relationships were derived, evaluated and applied on linear polymers such as polystyrene and copolymers such as (NIPAAm-alt-HEMA) and (MAAm-alt-HEMA) copolymers respectively. The validity of these equations was successfully verified. The first relationship, equation 12, interrelates exponentially kinetic chain length, average molecular weight and degree of pol...

BACKGROUND The aim of present study was to develop the novel methods for chemical and physical modification of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) with polymers via covalent bonding entrapment. These modified SPIONs were used for encapsulation of anticancer drug doxorubicin. METHOD At first approach silane-grafted magnetic nanoparticles was prepared and used as a template for ...

The objective of this work is to develop subconjunctivally implantable, biodegradable hydrogels for sustained release of intact insulin to the retina to prevent and treat retinal neurovascular degeneration such as diabetic retinopathy. The hydrogels are synthesized by UV photopolymerization of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm) monomer and a dextran macromer containing multiple hydrolytically degra...

We demonstrate a timed explosive drug release from smart pH-responsive hydrogels by utilizing a phototriggered spatial pH-jump reaction. A photoinitiated proton-releasing reaction of o-nitrobenzaldehyde (o-NBA) was integrated into poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-2-carboxyisopropylacrylamide) (P(NIPAAm-co-CIPAAm)) hydrogels. o-NBA-hydrogels demonstrated the rapid release of protons upon UV irradia...