Magnetic polymersomes were prepared by self-assembly of the amphiphilic block copolymer poly(isoprene-b-N-isopropylacrylamide) with monodisperse hydrophobic superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPION). The specifically designed thermoresponsive block copolymer allowed for efficient incorporation of the hydrophobic nanoparticles in the membrane core and encapsulation of the water soluble ...

This study is focused on thermoresponsive glycogen-graft-poly(2-alkyl-2-oxazolines), a new group of nanostructured hybrid dendrimeric stimuli-responsive polymers connecting the body’s own biodegradable polysaccharidic dendrimer glycogen with the widely tuneable thermoresponsive behavior of polypeptide-analogic poly(2-alkyl-2-oxazolines), which are known to be biocompatible. Glycogengraft-poly(2...

The fabrication of a thermoresponsive biohybrid double hydrophilic block copolymer (DHBC) by a cofactor reconstitution approach is reported. Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) bearing a porphyrin moiety at the chain terminal, PPIXZn-PNIPAM, is synthesized by the combination of ATRP and a click reaction. The subsequent cofactor reconstitution process between apomyoglobin and PPIXZn-PNIPAM affo...

We describe the surface modification of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs), the coverage of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNiPAM) microgel with the MNPs and the inductive heating of these carriers. PNiPAM surface itself was modified using the layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly of polyelectrolytes to facilitate the deposition of surface-modified MNPs. One advantage of this concept is it allows the tuning o...

Topical administration of drugs and growth factors in a controlled fashion can improve the healing process during skin disorders and chronic wounds. To achieve this goal, a dermal patch is engineered that utilizes thermoresponsive drug microcarriers encapsulated within a hydrogel layer attached to a flexible heater with integrated electronic heater control circuitry. The engineered patch confor...

The formation of polyion complexes (PICs) comprising thermoresponsive polymers is intended to result in the aggregates that undergo significant structural changes with temperature. Moreover observed modifications might be critically affected by polymer structure and PICs composition. Different block copolymers based on cationic poly(3-acrylamidopropyltrimethylammonium chloride) poly(N-isopropyl...

A thermoresponsive organogel was obtained by orthogonal assembly of four compounds using dynamic covalent boronate ester and imine bonds, as well as dative boron-nitrogen bonds. It is shown that the gel state can be disrupted or reinforced by chemicals which undergo exchange reactions with the gel components.

Combining compliant electrode arrays in open-mesh constructs with hydrogels yields a class of soft actuator, capable of complex, programmable changes in shape. The results include materials strategies, integration approaches, and mechanical/thermal analysis of heater meshes embedded in thermoresponsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (pNIPAM) hydrogels with forms ranging from 2D sheets to 3D hemisp...

Responsive polymer-based materials have found numerous applications due to their ease of synthesis and the variety of stimuli that they can be made responsive to. In this review, we highlight the group's efforts utilizing thermoresponsive poly (N-isopropylacrylamide) (pNIPAm) microgel-based optical devices for various sensing and biosensing applications.