Stimuli-Responsive Polymers: Design, Synthesis, Characterization, and Applications
1Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, USA
2Arizona State University, Tempe, USA
3National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba, Japan
4Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Thailand
Stimuli-Responsive Polymers: Design, Synthesis, Characterization, and Applications
Description
Stimuli-responsive polymers, or so-called “Smart Polymers,” are macromolecules that are sensitive to certain stimuli from external environment, including temperature, light, electrical or magnetic field, and chemicals, and respond with observable or detectable changes in its morphology or specified properties. They are usually synthesized by incorporating unique reactive functional group to the backbone chains during polymerization and/or after polymerization. Due to the versatile selection of backbone and functional groups, stimuli-responsive polymers can be tailored to have a variety of specified mechanical, chemical, electrical, optical, biological, or other properties and can be engineered into different forms, including bulk, thin film, nanoparticle, and composite. Over the years, a great deal of multidisciplinary efforts has been conducted and reported in optimizing their functionalities and exploring their wide applications in sensors, actuators, charge and energy transport/storage, functional coating, and drug delivery to name a few. However, the great potential of stimuli-responsive polymers inherited from their versatile macromolecular structure and incorporative compatibility is still very attractive to the polymer related research communities and deserves further exploration.
Therefore, we are pleased to launch this special issue to present and discuss the most recent development in their design, novel synthesis and characterization, and cutting edge applications. We invite researchers to contribute original research articles related to stimuli-responsive polymers that will enrich our basic understandings and/or stimulate further development of these advanced smart materials.
Potential topics include, but are not limited to:
- Synthesis of novel polymers that demonstrate stimuli-responsive behavior
- Characterization of properties, such as mechanical, chemical, optical, thermal, and electrical
- Incorporation technique, including coating, encapsulating, and compositing
- Specified stimuli-responsive polymers, such as electroactive, thermoactive, conductive, self-healing, and electrochromic polymers
- Application of stimuli-responsive polymers, including sensors, actuators, functional coatings, drug delivery, OLEDs, and OFETs