• Proceedings of the Polymer Society of Korea Conference
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• 2006.10a
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• pp.374-374
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• 2006

Poly (N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) shows a lower critical solution temperature (LCST) at $32^{\circ}C$. Consequently, its thermosensitivity has extensively been investigated in coating materials as well as biomedical and agricultural industry. However, mechanical properties of the swollen gels are generally poor and reinforcement is often desired. A series of interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs) and emulsion blends hydrogels of polyurethane (PU) and PNIPAAm were prepared in order to overcome the shortcomings of a normal PNIPAAm hydrogels. Regarding the mechanical reinforcement of swollen gel, a significant increase in compression and tensile properties has been obtained by incorporating PU.

• Korean Membrane Journal
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.37-43
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• 2004

Comb-type graft hydrogels composed of alginate and poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) were prepared to manifest rapid temperature and pH sensitivity. To appear the electro-sensitivity, the polyaniline, conducting polymer, was added into the matrix. The swelling kinetics and ratios were compared under the various compositions of polyaniline. The swelling behaviors revealed that conducting polymer/hydrogel composites could control the swelling ratio and kinetics. The addition of polyaniline in the matrix improved the thermal stability in comparison with that of the hydrogel without polyaniline. In temperature sensitivity, the adding the polyaniline into the matrix decreased the degree of change in the swelling ratio. The swelling ratios continuously increased with increasing pH values. The drug release rate from the hydrogel increased with the adding the polyaniline and the applying the direct voltage to the hydrogels.

• Textile Coloration and Finishing
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.181-186
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• 2010

A thermoresponsive poly(NIPAM-co-dye) labeled with benzopyran-based D-$\pi$-A type dye was prepared by typical radical copolymerization. It can be also constructed a acid/base-induced molecular switch by modulation of intramolecular charge transfer with protonation/deprotonation. The lower critical solution temperature behavior was investigated by means of UV-vis spectroscopy which allows the measurement of the phase transition from $25^{\circ}C$ to $45^{\circ}C$ in aqueous DMSO solution. The morphology of the internal microstructure of the poly(NIPAM-co-dye) hydrogel was observed by scanning electron microscopy. The reversible switch could be obtained by thermal and acid/base stimuli.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.54-61
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• 2005

We prepared temperature-sensitive liposomes (TS-liposomes) modified with a thermo sensitive polymer, such as poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm), to increase the degree of drug release from liposomes at the hyperthermic temperature. A PNIPAAm hydrogel containing TS-Iiposomes was also prepared to obtain a hydrogel complex at body temperature. In addition, a depot system for local drug delivery using the polymer hydrogel was developed to enhance therapeutic efficacy and prevent severe side effects in the whole body. The PNIPAAm-mod­ified TS-liposome was fixed into the PNIPAAm hydrogel having a high temperature-sensitivity. The release behavior of calcein, a model drug, from TS-liposomes in the PNIPAAm hydrogel was then initiated by external hyperthermia; the results indicated that sustained release as a function of temperature and time was caused by the thermosensitivity of the liposome surface and diffusion of the drug into the PNIPAAm hydrogel. Our results indicated that TS-liposomes in a PNIPAAm hydrogel represented a plausible system for local drug delivery.

• Proceedings of the Polymer Society of Korea Conference
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• 2006.10a
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• pp.101-101
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• 2006

We have studied the micellisation of poly(n-butyl acrylate)-block-poly(acrylic acid) and poly(n-butyl acrylate)-graft-poly(acrylic acid) in aqueous solution. The size and structure of the formed micelles was elucidated by scattering and imaging techniques. The micelle structure depends on pH, composition, and topology: graft copolymers form much smaller micelles that block copolymers of similar composition. We have also synthesized block copolymers of acrylic acid and N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm) or N,N-diethylacrylamide (DEAAm). Due to the LCST of polyNIPAAm and polyDEAAm, these block copolymers spontaneously form micelles upon heating and they form inverse micelles upon decreasing pH below 4. If the LCST block is much longer than the PAA one, this presents a very convenient way to prepare crew-cut micelles. The polymers have been successfully used as stabilizers in emulsion polymerization. They also have been conjugated to streptavidin. The conjugates reversibly form mesoscopic particles on heating.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.87-93
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• 2006

Copolymers composed of hyaluronic acid (HA) and poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) were prepared to create temperature-sensitive injectable gels for use in controlled drug delivery applications. Semi-telechelic PNIPAAm, with amino groups at the end of each main chain, was synthesized by radical polymerization using 2-aminoethanethiol hydrochloride (AESH) as the chain transfer agent, and was then grafted onto the carboxyl groups of HA using carbodiimide chemistry. The result of the thermo-optical analysis revealed that the phase transition of the PNIPAAm-grafted HA solution occurred at around 30$\∼$33$^{circ}C$. As the graft yield of PNIPAAm onto the HA backbone increased, the HA-g-PNIPAAm copolymer solution exhibited sharper phase transition. The short chain PNIPAAm-grafted HA ($M_{w}$=6,100) showed a narrower temperature range for optical turbidity changes than the long chain PNIPAAm-grafted HA ($M_{w}$=13,100). PNIPAAm-grafted HA exhibited an increase in viscosity above 35$^{circ}C$, thus allowing the gels to maintain their shape for 24 h after in vivo administration. From the in vitro riboflavin release study, the HA-g-PNIPAAm gel showed a more sustained release behavior when the grafting yield of PNIPAAm onto the HA backbone was increased. In addition, BSA released from the PNIPAAm-g-HA gels showed a maximum concentration in the blood 12 h after being injected into the dorsal surface of a rabbit, followed by a sustained release profile after 60 h.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.455-460
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• 2012

Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) hydrogel has been studied as an important drug delivery system due to its volume transition or temperature-responsive swelling properties, whose phase separation temperature is similar to the body temperature. However, because of hydrophilic PNIPAM, hydrophobic drugs are difficult to be uniformly loaded in the networks. Antioxidant alpha-lipoic acid (LA) can be prepared as a polymer(polylipoic acid, PLA) by ring opening polymerization, which is hardly developed as a material due to its low molecular weight and easy depolymerization. To overcome this limitation, a hydrophobic active ingredient, LA was reacted with NIPAM into stable hydrogels. Simple thermal radical reaction successfully resulted in a hydrogel (PNIPAM/PLA), which was confirmed by DSC, FTIR, and Raman spectroscopy. The PNIPAM/PLA showed temperature-responsive properties, and their volume swelling decreased with an increase in lipoic acid content. These hydrogels can carry hydrophobic drugs with PNIPAM and the hydrogels could be useful as final drug delivery systems having lipoic acid as an antioxidant.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.59-66
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• 2003

The comb-type grafted polymer hydrogels, which composed of N-isopropylacrylamide monomer and oligo(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-tert-butylacrylamide) [oligo(NIPAAm-co-t-BAM)], were synthesized by redox polymerization in 5~10% methanol aqueous solution using ammonium peroxodisulfate (APS) at 4 oC for 24h. The lower critical solution temperatures (LCSTs) of the comb-type grafted hydrogels were decreased with increase of t-BAM content in the grafted copolymer. We observed the effect of crosslinker and concentration of oligo(NIPAAm-co-t-BAM) on the shrinking/swelling ratio of hydrogels. Changes of shrinking/swelling ratio were decreased with increase of concentration of crosslinker. The increase of grafted oligo(NIPAAm-co-t-BAM) in the hydrogel shows an fast changes of shrinking/ swelling rate. The comb-type grafted hydrogels are expected to be valuable for the sensing materials of time-temperature labels(TTLs).

• Clean Technology
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.112-118
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• 2018

Thermo-responsive polymers that exhibit phase transition in response to temperature change can be used as materials for smart windows because they can control solar light transmission depending on the outside temperature. The development of thermo-responsive polymers for smart windows that can be used over a wide temperature range is desirable. To obtain high performance smart windows materials, three-dimensional thermo-responsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAm) gels were prepared by free radical polymerization from monomer N-isopropylacrylamide, N, N'-methylenebis acrylamide (MBAm) as a crosslinking agent, ammonium persulfate (APS) as a strong oxidizing agent/tetramethylene diamine as a catalyst, and a mixture of two solvents (water/glycerol). This study examined the effect of glycerol content on the lower critical solution temperature (LCST), freezing temperature and the solar light transmittance of crosslinked PNIPAm gel films. The LCST and freezing temperature of PNIPAm gel films were found to be significantly decreased from 34.3 and $6.3^{\circ}C$ to 28.2 and $-6.5^{\circ}C$ with increasing glycerol content from 0 wt% to 10 wt%, respectively. It was found that the transparent PNIPAm gel films at $25^{\circ}C$ (temperature < LCST) were converted to translucent gels at higher temperature ($45^{\circ}C$) (temperature > LCST). These results suggested that the crosslinked PNIPAm gel materials prepared in this study could have high potential for application in smart glass materials.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.29 no.9
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• pp.1699-1704
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• 2008