Smart Hydrogel preparations

N0W Applications. A new smart material that expands and contracts in response to certain proteins is being developed in Japan for use either as a drug delivery vehicle or as an artificial muscle (68). The material is a hydrogel prepared from two different types of polyacrylamide. At one end an immunoglobulin (IgG) protein, derived from rabbit, is attached and to the other end another antibody, derived from goat, is bound with a specific site for the rabbit IgG. In water, the two sets of molecules cross-link to each other via the IgG and antibody sites to form a tightly bound gel. The resultant gel swells in a solution of IgG because the free protein binds to the antibodies on the second type of polymer, thereby breaking the... 

Abstract In order to tailor hydrogels for the application as actuator-sensor microsystems based on the responsive behaviour of smart gels, a general strategy has to be developed. Since the phase transition phenomenon of hydrogels is theoretically well understood advanced materials based on the predictions can be prepared. The requirements for applying hydrogels can be summarized as follows ... 

Thermoresponsive polymers based on oligo(ethylene glycol) acrylates or methacrylates can be easily prepared by atom transfer radical polymerization under straightforward experimental conditions (i.e. in bulk or in ethanol solution and in the presence of commercially available catalysts). Thus, these stimuli-responsive macromolecules can be exploited for preparing a wide range of smart advanced materials such as thermoreversible hydrogels, thermoresponsive block-copolymer micelles and switchable surfaces. Hence, some of the results... 

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