Drug delivery temperature-responsive

Surface functionalization is an extremely important field of science as the surface properties significantly affect the application of solid materials. Development on specific surface characteristics is thus always of importance and need, and has seen growing interest in recent years. One such surface property of recent interest is the reversible response of the materials to stimulants like temperature, pH, salt concentration changes, etc. Generation of this property on the surface of the materials leads to functionalized materials in which their nature, e.g., hydrophobicity or hydrophilicity, can be finely controlled by enviroiunental stimulants like temperature, salt, pH, etc. This property translates the use of these materials in a number of applications, like temperature-controlled adsorption and desorption of biomolecules, temperature-controlled drug delivery processes, etc. 

Bajpai, A., Shukla, S., Saini, R. and Tiwari, A. (eds.) (2010) Temperature sensitive release systems. In Stimuli Responsive Drug Delivery Systems From Introduction to Application UK, Smithers Rapra Technologies. 

ELP-based triblock copolypeptides have also been used to produce stimulus-responsive micelles, and Chaikof and coworkers envisioned the possible application of these micelles as controlled drug delivery vehicles. These amphiphilic triblock copolymers were constructed from two identical hydrophobic ELP endblocks and a hydrophilic ELP midblock. Below the transition temperature, loose and monodispersed micelles were formed that reversibly contracted upon heating, leading to more compact micelles with a reduced size [90]. 

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