'Smart' polymers and what they could do in biotechnology and medicine

Thermoresponsive hyperbranched polyethylenimines with isobutyramide functional groups

“…The residue was dissolved in 2 mL of methanol and purified by dialysis against methanol using a benzoylated cellulose membrane (MWCO 1000 g/mol) for 2 days to remove low molecular weight impurities. 1 …”

“…1 One of the most important stimulus-responsive species is the thermoresponsive hydrophilic polymers having the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) in aqueous solution, that is, above the specific temperature their solubility in water dramatically decrease. 2 To date, the fundamental composition in nearly all the thermoresponsive materials was the linear polymers with LCST property.…”

Structural Analysis of Ciprofloxacin-Carbopol Polymeric Composites by X-Ray Diffraction and Fourier Transform Infra-Red Spectroscopy

“…Both consist of chains of polyacrylic acid but differ in the cross linking agents used in their production which are allyl ethers of sucrose (allylsucrose) and pentaerythritol (allylpentaerythritol), respectively [11,12]. They have recently attracted considerable interest in the field of drug delivery as a means of providing an on-off release by shrinking and swelling in response to change in pH [13,14]. The polymer can protect a drug from its physiological environment by improving its stability in vivo [15].…”

Recent Applications of Polymeric Biomaterials and Stem Cells in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine

“…The concept of smart polymers was initially derived from the development of materials that show large conformational changes in response to environmental stimuli such as temperature, ionic strength, pH, or light. 49 The responses of the polymer may include precipitation or gelation, reversible adsorption on a surface, collapse of a hydrogel or surface graft,…”