Upper Critical Solution Temperature (UCST)-type Thermoresponsive Polymers from Hydrogen-Bonding Monomers
- UCST-type thermoresponsive polymers (i.e. that phase separate from solution upon cooling) present a tremendous potential not only in aqueous media where they can be used in drug delivery, diagnostic and microfluidic applications,but also in water/alcohol mixtures, where they can be used for instance in sensing systems for alcohol-soluble drugs. However, only a few thermoresponsive polymers have been reported that present an UCST in a relevant temperature range and “green” solvents such as water or Ethanol.
In this context, acrylamide-based monomers can be very useful building blocks for designing novel non-ionic UCST-type polymers because of their hydrophilic nature (with the appropriate side chain) and propensity to form hydrogen bonds. We will present our latest results on the UCST-type thermoresponsive behaviour of acrylamide- and/or 2,6-diaminopyridine-based homopolymers and copolymers in water or water/alcohol mixtures, and give some insights about the rational design of UCSTUCST-type thermoresponsive polymers (i.e. that phase separate from solution upon cooling) present a tremendous potential not only in aqueous media where they can be used in drug delivery, diagnostic and microfluidic applications,but also in water/alcohol mixtures, where they can be used for instance in sensing systems for alcohol-soluble drugs. However, only a few thermoresponsive polymers have been reported that present an UCST in a relevant temperature range and “green” solvents such as water or Ethanol.
In this context, acrylamide-based monomers can be very useful building blocks for designing novel non-ionic UCST-type polymers because of their hydrophilic nature (with the appropriate side chain) and propensity to form hydrogen bonds. We will present our latest results on the UCST-type thermoresponsive behaviour of acrylamide- and/or 2,6-diaminopyridine-based homopolymers and copolymers in water or water/alcohol mixtures, and give some insights about the rational design of UCST polymers relying on H-bonding.…