Smart nanochannels

In most cases, the as-obtained nanocarriers can release the loaded biomolecules in response to only one kind of external stimulus, such as light, pH, or temperature, and realize a monoresponsive nanochannel. However, the sensitivity of these nanocarriers is not very efficient. Even for NIR-triggered phototherapy, the effective penetration depth of NIR light is still limited to no more than 1 cm and its sensitivity and accuracy to treat tumors located deep inside the body is thus limited. Therefore, delivery systems triggered by at least two different inputs have recently been considered by researchers. Generally, in order to get dual-responsive nanocarriers, two kinds of smart materials or one material with two functional groups must be included in the same NP. For example, two kinds of responsive materials, such as PAA and PNIPAm, can be simultaneously employed in the a pH- and... 

Wen L, Hou X, Tian Y, Nie F-Q, Song Y, Zhai J, Jiang L. Bioinspired smart gating of nanochannels toward photoelectric-conversion systems. Adv Mat 2010 22(9) 1021. ... 

Figure 4.12 Mechanism of a photoinduced, chemical-driven, smart-gating nanochannel. Adapted with permission from Wen, Ma, et al. (2012).

In this chapter, we have reviewed some recent progress on the developments of photonic sensitive materials and their apphcations, including photoinduced surface wettability switches and smart-gating nanochannels (Wen et al., 2010 Wen, Liu, et al., 2012 Zhang et al., 2012). We also listed different photonic biomaterials used in opto-bioelectronic devices, biocatalysts, biosensors, and the biomedical engineering field. 

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