Chapter 9 - Smart Polymers With Nanoarchitectonics

Abstract

There has been a renewal of interest in controlling “nanoarchitectures,” and a considerable number of studies have been conducted on designing of novel materials to meet these applications. Some special types of polymers, for example, have emerged as a very useful class of polymers and have their own special chemical properties and applications in various areas. These polymers are coined with different names, based on their physical or chemical properties, like stimuli-responsive or environmentally sensitive or smart or intelligent polymers. We shall use the name smart polymers for such polymer systems in this chapter. The characteristic feature that actually makes them “smart” is their ability to respond to very slight changes in the surrounding environment. The uniqueness of these materials lies not only in the fast macroscopic changes occurring in their structure but also that these transitions are reversible. The responses are manifested as changes in one or more of the following: shape, surface characteristics, solubility, formation of an intricate molecular assembly, a sol-to-gel transition, and others. The environmental trigger behind these transitions can be either change in temperature or pH shift, increase in ionic strength, presence of certain chemicals, etc. More recently, changes in electric and magnetic field, light or radiation forces have also been reported as stimuli for these polymers. In this chapter, I describe some biomedical applications of smart polymers.