Thermoresponsive polymeric platforms are used to optimise drug delivery in pharmaceutical systems and bioactive medical devices. However, the practical application of these systems is compromised by their poor mechanical properties. This study describes the design of thermoresponsive semi-interpenetrating polymer networks (s-IPNs) based on cross-linked p(NIPAA) or p(NIPAA-co-HEMA) hydrogels con...

The combination of reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) and emulsion polymerization has recently attracted much attention as a synthetic tool for high-molecular-weight block copolymers and their micellar nano-objects. Up to recently, though, the use of thermoresponsive polymers as both macroRAFT agents and latex stabilizers was impossible in aqueous media due to their hydroph...

A temperature sensitive dopamine-imprinted polymer was prepared in 80% aqueous methanol solution by free-radical cross-linking co-polymerisation of methacrylic acid and acrylamide at 60 degrees C in the presence of N,N-methylene-bis-acrylamide as the cross-linker and dopamine hydrochloride as template molecule. The resulting molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) formed temperature responsive mate...

Colloidal hybrids comprise organic and inorganic components and are attracting considerable attention in the literature. Recently, we reported hybrid anisotropic microsheets that formed thermoresponsive gels in polymer solutions [Liu et al., Langmuir, 25, 490, 2009]. Here, we investigate the composition and properties of these hybrid colloids themselves in detail for the first time. Three diffe...

Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) oligomer containing one adamantyl (AD) and two β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) moieties at the chain terminals, AD-PNIPAM-(β-CD)(2), was synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and successive click reactions. In aqueous solution, AD-PNIPAM-(β-CD)(2) spontaneously forms supramolecular thermoresponsive hyperbranched polymers via molecular recognition ...

The directed self-assembly of gold nanoparticles through the crystallization of surface-grafted polyethylene oxide (PEO) in ethanol-water mixtures is described. This process is fully reversible and tunable through either the size of the core or the polymeric coating. Characterization by X-ray scattering and electron microscopy of the self-assembled structures reveals order at the nanoscale, typ...