Changing Polymer Solvation by Electrochemical Means: Basics and Applications

Electrically induced swelling and methylene blue release behaviour of poly (N-isopropylacrylamide-co-acrylamido-2-methylpropyl sulphonic acid) hydrogels

“…sulphonic acids and carboxylic acids, and are deformed under the influence of electric potential, such as expansion, contraction, elongation and bending. The sensitivity of hydrogels under electric potential is dependent on experimental set-up, composition of the hydrogels, kind of aqueous medium, concentration of electrolytes and mechanism of ion transport with surrounding medium [10,11]. The electroresponsive hydrogels have an advantage over other stimuliresponsive hydrogels, as they control the magnitude of current, conveniently and precisely.…”

Cargo shuttling by electrochemical switching of core–shell microgels obtained by a facile one-shot polymerization

“…drug delivery3–5 and controlled release systems6,7 and their wide field in potential applications not only in biomedical technologies, but also separation and purification technologies,8 and sensor interfaces 9–11. While internal switching is accompanied by an addition of chemicals (pH, ionic strength, solvent composition), the external switching is possible by application of a magnetic/electric field,12 irradiation, or a change in temperature 13. The advantage of an electrochemical stimulus is the change in composition without any addition of chemicals.…”

“…Less common is the use of polymeric nanoparticles 20. Though redox-active polymers have been known for decades, utilization of an electrochemical stimulus21–23 to switch polymer properties is a rather undiscovered field compared to the vast majority of reports dealing with stimuli such as temperature, light and pH to induce changes in the polymer chain conformation 13,24. This particularly holds for microgels,25 which are crosslinked polymeric particles in the colloidal size range, often with an ability to undergo a volume phase transition (VPT) upon response to the environmental changes 9,11,26.…”

“…Hence, the electrochemistry can be affected by the temperature induced phase transition of thin films/brushes, which are attached to electrodes 46–50. However, the electrochemical manipulation of the microgel state and of the swelling/collapse behavior of these dispersed particles has almost been neglected 13. Recently we demonstrated a microgel size manipulation by purely electrochemical means 51.…”

Recent Trends in Metallopolymer Design: Redox‐Controlled Surfaces, Porous Membranes, and Switchable Optical Materials Using Ferrocene‐Containing Polymers

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] Besides their excellent combination of redox properties, ferrocene-containingp olymers can feature remarkable mechanical robustness, semi-conductivep roperties, and interesting photo-physical and optoelectronic properties. [8][9][10][11] Moreover,f errocene-containing polymers were used as preceramic precursors for the preparation of advanced (magnetic) ceramics and metals. [12][13][14][15] Recent advances in polymer design have led to ap lethora of novel metallopolymer architectures:( i) new homopolymers, (ii)block copolymers (BCP), (iii)sterically demandingg rafted, dendritic or hyperbranched polymers, (iv) immobilized metallopolymers comprising layer-by-layer (LbL) architectures or densely graftedm etallopolymers at various (functional or non-functional) surfaces, (v) metallopolymer particle architectures and many others.…”