Photo-responsive systems and biomaterials: photochromic polymers, light-triggered self-assembly, surface modification, fluorescence modulation and beyond

Abstract

There has been considerable interest in the application of photochromism to photo-responsive systems which has led to the development of new tailored smart materials for photonics and biomedical fields. Within a polymeric matrix photochromic isomerizations can be stimulated by light to reversibly alter the physical and chemical properties of a material such as LC phase, shape, surface wettability, permeability, solubility, self-assembly, size and fluorescence. The underlying principles behind photoresponsive behavior, subsequent applications and relevant examples are discussed in this review.

Stimuli-responsive photonic polymer coatings

“…In particular, photo-induced alterations in the surface roughness or the hydrophilicity of materials are of interest since they cause changes in their wettability and/or changes in their adhesion properties. 3,7,8 Dirk J. Broer Dirk J. Broer is a polymer chemist and specialised in polymer structuring and self-organising polymer networks. In 1973, he joined Philips Research (Eindhoven, The Netherlands), where he worked on manifold research topics such as vapour-phase polymerisation, optical data storage, telecommunication fibres, and display optics.…”

Dynamic photo-control of kinesin on a photoisomerizable monolayer – hydrolysis rate of ATP and motility of microtubules depending on the terminal group

“…28 We reported the reversible and repeated regulation of the 70 motility of microtubule by the photoisomerization of the underlying monolayer using two different wavelengths of light. 28 For the fabrication of such photoresponsive monolayer, we employed a derivative of azobenzene; one of the most studied photochromic compounds [29][30][31][32][33] due to its strong photo-switching effect, reversibility and simplicity of incorporation, 34 with a triethoxy silane group which react with the glass surface to be 5 anchored and a lysine group which can interact with motor proteins. Using this approach, we described the reversible and repeated control of the gliding velocity of microtubules driven by kinesin on the azobenzene monolayer (with a maximum of 15% difference in velocity) upon irradiation with UV and visible 10 light.…”

B 12 -dependent photoresponsive protein hydrogels for controlled stem cell/protein release

“…Photoresponsive hydrogels are of particular interest to material scientists, because light is regarded as an ideal tool to control molecules or cell behavior with high spatiotemporal precision and little invasiveness (5)(6)(7)(8)(9). Thanks to the advancement of synthetic chemistry, tremendous progress has been made over the past few years in making photoresponsive hydrogels with dynamically tunable properties (10,11). Through a combination of orthogonal click reactions and photochemistry, some of these synthetic hydrogels can be mechanically and chemically patterned in situ by light while being used for 3D cell culturing (12,13).…”