Dynamic switching of plasmonic monolayers built of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) is achieved using nano-coatings of poly(isopropyl acrylamide) (PNIPAM). The distance between AuNPs can be dynamically tuned through the repeatable expansion and contraction of the PNIPAM shells at different temperatures, which results in rapid switching of the optical properties of the AuNP monolayer.

Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) linear chains and spherical microgels were studied using laser light scattering. The volume change associated with the temperature dependence of the hydrodynamic radii of both the linear chains and the spherical microgels is continuous, in contrast to a discontinuous volume phase transition observed for a bulk PNIPAM gel with an identical composition. A reex...

We prepare a novel suspension composed of rodlike fd virus and thermosensitive polymer poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) whose phase diagram is temperature and concentration dependent. The system exhibits a rich variety of stable and metastable phases, and provides a unique opportunity to directly observe melting of lamellar phases and single lamellae. Typically, lamellar phases swell with increasing...

Both water and methanol are good solvents for poly( N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) at room temperature, but strangely not a mixture of them. Using narrowly distributed linear PNIPAM chains (M(w) = 2.6x10(7) g/mol and M(w)/M(n)<1.1), we have, for the first time, observed a coil-to-globule-to-coil transition of a single PNIPAM chain when methanol was gradually added into water. This novel reentr...

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In this study, we analyzed the antimicrobial activities of poly-N-isopropylacrylamide (pNIPAM)-based polymeric nanoparticles encapsulating silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). Three sizes of AgNP-encapsulating pNIPAM- and pNIPAM-NH2-based polymeric nanoparticles were fabricated. Highly stable and uniformly distributed AgNPs were encapsulated within polymeric nanoparticles via in situ reduction of AgNO...

Thermosensitive nanocables consisting of Au nanowire cores and poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) sheaths (denoted as Au/PNIPAAm) were synthesized by surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP). The formation of PNIPAAm sheath was verified by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and hydrogen nuclear magnetic resonance ((1)H NMR) spectroscopy. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) re...

We report a novel approach for the temperature-triggered development of water-soluble photoresists based on photocleavable poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) copolymers. These copolymers are soluble in an aqueous environment below their Lower Critical Solution Temperature (LCST). Upon UV irradiation, the photocleavable groups are deprotected resulting in an increased LCST. Thus, the illuminated parts ...

Here we report on the fabrication and characterization of temperature-responsive electrospun nanofiber meshes using N-isopropylacrylamide homopolymer (PNIPAAm). The effect of molecular weight on fiber formation and their thermoresponsive shrinking/dissolution behaviors were investigated. The PNIPAAm fiber meshes showed much faster temperature-dependent shrinking or dissolution than that of its ...