Environmentally Responsive Hydrogel Nanocomposites for Biomedical Applications Synthesized Via Pcµcp

The incorporation of intelligent responsive hydrogel systems at the micro- and nanoscale has resulted in a wide variety of applications in the diagnostic and therapeutic field. Hydrogel nanocomposites can be tailored to exhibit combined effects of the component inside the crosslinked matrix and that of the response property of the hydrogel, thereby expanding their potential applications in the biomedical field. Herein, polymerization controlled by micro contact printing (PCmCP) was applied to synthesize micro- and nanostructured environmentally responsive hydrogel composites (e.g. crosslinked N-isopropyl acrylamide matrix with gold/iron oxide nanoparticles). XY control of the hydrogels was achieved using microcontact printing, and the Z/thickness control was achieved using a variety of polymerization techniques such as UV photopolymerization and atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). The responsive behavior of the hydrogels to external stimuli was characterized using optical microscopy, UV-visible spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Using PCmCP based techniques; it is possible to synthesize controlled responsive hydrogel nanocomposites for potential applications in the biomedical field.