జర్నల్ ఆఫ్ ఎనలిటికల్ & బయోఅనలిటికల్ టెక్నిక్స్

నైరూప్య

Poly (N-Isopropylacrylamide) Microgel-Based Etalons for Optical Sensing

Liang Hu and Michael J. Serpe

Poly (N-isopropylacrylamide) (pNIPAm) is one of the most completely studied “smart” polymers due to its unique reversible thermoresponsivity. That is, when pNIPAm in water is heated > ~31°C, it transits from a random coil to a globule conformation; this transition is reversed when T < ~31°C. This conformational change is accompanied by water exchange process. When pNIPAm undergoes the coil to globule transition, water is expelled, while water is “sorbed” when the polymer undergoes the opposite process.