Poly physical gels

Pouliquen G, Porcar I, Tribet C, Amiel C. 2002. Photoresponsive thickening in poly amphiphUe based physical gels the example of micelles, protein and cyclodextrin cross linkers. In Bohidar H, Dubin P, Osada Y, editors. ACS Advances in Chemistry. Series 833 (Polymer Gels Fundamentals and Applications). Chap 18, pp. 262 289. 

Bercea Maria, Morariu Simona, Nita Loredana Elena, and Darie Raluca Nicoleta. Investigation of poly(vinyl alcohol)/Pluronic F127 physical gels. Polym. Plast. Technol. Eng. 53 no. 13 (2014) 1354-1361. 

Makhaeva, E. E., Thanh, L. T. M., Starodoubtsev, S. G., Khokhlov, A. R. (1996). Ther-moshrinking behavior of poly(vinylcaprolactam) gels in aqueous solution. Macromolecu-lar Chemistry and Physics, 197, 1973-1982. 

Armes et al. [58] synthesized, via ATRP, biocompatible, thermoresponsive ABA triblock copolymers in which the onter A blocks are comprised of PNIPAm and the central B block is poly(2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine). This novel system is soluble in dilnte aqueous solution but forms free-standing physical gels at 37 °C due to hydro-phobic associations of the PNIPAm segments. The gelation process is reversible and shows potential applications in drug delivery and tissue engineering. 

Another original approach for fabrication of nanocomposite aerogels based on CNTs and chemically cross-linked polymers was described by Zou, Liu, and Karakoti (2010). The authors first disperse MWNTs by poly(3-hexylthiophene)-b-poly(3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate) (P3HT-PTMSPMA) due to the n-n interaction between nanotubes and P3HT, form a physical gel and, then, cross-link the polymer layer by hydrolysis and condensation of PTMSPMA blocks (Figure 8.3). 

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