Self-oscillating gel as novel biomimetic materials.
Stimuli-responsive polymers and their application to biomaterials have been widely studied. On the other hand, as a novel biomimetic polymer, we have been studying the polymer with an autonomous self-oscillating function by utilizing oscillating chemical reactions. So far, we succeeded in developing a novel self-oscillating polymer and gels by utilizing the oscillating reaction, called the Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction, which is recognized as a chemical model for understanding several autonomous phenomena in biological systems. The self-oscillating polymer is composed of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) network in which the catalyst for the BZ reaction is covalently immobilized. Under the coexistence of the reactants, the polymer undergoes spontaneous cyclic soluble-insoluble changes or swelling-deswelling changes (in the case of gel) without any on-off switching of external stimuli. In this paper, our recent studies on the self-oscillating polymer gels and the design of functional material systems using the polymer are summarized.
Yoshida
Ryo
R
Department of Materials Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan. ryo@cross.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Sakai
Takamasa
T
Hara
Yusuke
Y
Maeda
Shingo
S
Hashimoto
Shuji
S
Suzuki
Daisuke
D
Murase
Yoko
Y
D040761:Biomimetic Materials; D005782:Gels / Q000737:chemistry*; D036103:Nanotechnology; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry
D005782:Gels; D011108:Polymers