Fabrications and Applications of Stimulus-Responsive Polymer Films and Patterns on Surfaces: A Review

In the past two decades, we have witnessed significant progress in developing high performance stimuli-responsive polymeric materials. This review focuses on recent developments in the preparation and application of patterned stimuli-responsive polymers, including thermoresponsive layers, pH/ionic-r...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Materials 2014-01, Vol.7 (2), p.805-875
Main Authors: Chen, Jem-Kun, Chang, Chi-Jung
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biosensors
Electron beam lithography
Hydrogels
Micrometers
Nanostructure
Polymer matrix composites
Printing
Review
Wettability
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Summary:In the past two decades, we have witnessed significant progress in developing high performance stimuli-responsive polymeric materials. This review focuses on recent developments in the preparation and application of patterned stimuli-responsive polymers, including thermoresponsive layers, pH/ionic-responsive hydrogels, photo-responsive film, magnetically-responsive composites, electroactive composites, and solvent-responsive composites. Many important new applications for stimuli-responsive polymers lie in the field of nano- and micro-fabrication, where stimuli-responsive polymers are being established as important manipulation tools. Some techniques have been developed to selectively position organic molecules and then to obtain well-defined patterned substrates at the micrometer or submicrometer scale. Methods for patterning of stimuli-responsive hydrogels, including photolithography, electron beam lithography, scanning probe writing, and printing techniques (microcontact printing, ink-jet printing) were surveyed. We also surveyed the applications of nanostructured stimuli-responsive hydrogels, such as biotechnology (biological interfaces and purification of biomacromoles), switchable wettability, sensors (optical sensors, biosensors, chemical sensors), and actuators.
ISSN:1996-1944
1996-1944
DOI:10.3390/ma7020805