“…Upon an external thermal stimulus, the hydrogel can switch between a collapsed and an extended chain conformation . In particular, the collapse transition of polymers with a lower critical solution temperature (LCST) behavior is interesting for a large variety of applications, such as drug delivery systems, − valves to control liquid transfer, , or optical devices. , However, so far, most of the investigations have focused on polymer solutions and on bulk polymer samples. − Compared to these bulk hydrogel samples, thin hydrogel films can swell and collapse only in one direction (along the surface normal), which makes them promising for applications like nanosensors and nanoswitches. ,,, Among the frequently investigated polymers with a LCST behavior, poly( N -isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) is still the most extensively investigated one. ,, PNIPAM has a LCST of 32 °C, which is slightly below the body temperature, which limits biomedical applications. ,,,,, Moreover, the moderate to low value of the LCST also imposes limits to the usability of PNIPAM in devices or in tropical countries, where the average temperature is above the transition temperature. In these cases, PNIPAM will only stay in the collapsed conformation, and switching cannot be realized.…”