Microgel applications and commercial considerations

Micromechanics of temperature sensitive microgels: dip in the Poisson ratio near the LCST

“…As a result, by tuning this length scale as well as the polymer concentration and the cross-linking density, the response of these materials can be sensitively tuned, making them ideally suited for applications such as drug-delivery materials, pharmaceutical systems, or for responsive scaffold materials in tissue-engineering applications. 2,[16][17][18][19] Microgels are also oen used as additives in personal care products, foods, and in advanced oil recovery, where their tunable material properties are exploited for precisely controlling the macroscopic viscoelastic properties of the material. 5,[20][21][22][23] Despite the widespread use of these materials in these practical applications, as well as in applied and fundamental scientic studies, their macroscopic mechanical properties are still poorly understood.…”

Design, Synthesis, Characterization and Toxicity Studies of Poly (N-Iso- Propylacrylamide-co-Lucifer Yellow) Particles for Drug Delivery Applications

“…The initial particle size at 15°C at pH 7 is 250 nm which is considerably smaller than that of 100% p(NIPAM) with an initial particle size of 550 nm [3,27]. The incorporation of a hydrophobic co-monomer such as lucifer yellow [28] decreases the extent of hydrogen bonding between the particle and water (solvent) compared to 100% p(NIPAM), so, less water will be incorporated in the particle leading to a smaller particle size [29].…”

“…Many applications have been suggested for this polymer due to its ability to change its physico-chemical properties according to the change in environmental conditions [3,4]. Considering that the VPTT of p(NIPAM) nanoparticles is 33-35°C [3] which is very close to the human body temperature, many researchers investigated the possible use of p(NIPAM) nanoparticles in drug delivery [8,[46][47][48], delivery of stem cells [49] and other biomedical applications such as tissue engineering [27], biomedical implants [50], treatment of dentinal hypersensitivity [3] and wound dressings [51,52]. A very important point to consider in this case is the toxicity of NIPAM based nanoparticles; on the other hand, not many reports are available in this context to date.…”

“…This is thought to be a property that can be used in different applications such as drug delivery [6].…”

Two-Dimensional Arrays of Poly(N-Isopropylacrylamide) Microspheres: Formation, Characterization and Application

“…Already this responsivity to a single stimulus enables the employment of polyNIPAM microspheres for the tailor-made fabrication of 2D and 3D materials with tuneable dimensions, switchable wettabilities, varying refractive indices and mechanical properties. Introduction of further co-monomers into the hydrogel matrix offer manifold possibilities for manipulating the properties of the hydrogel microgels (reviewed e. g. in [3] and [4]). Here, especially 3D structures composed of highly ordered or randomly arranged hydrogel spheres were investigated.…”