title: Poly(N-vinylcaprolactam): a thermoresponsive macromolecule with promising future in biomedical field.
abstract: Poly(N-vinylcaprolactam) (PNVCL) is a thermoresponsive and biocompatible polymer that raises an increasing interest in the biomedical area, especially in drug delivery systems (DDS) that include micelles, hydrogels, and hybrid particles. The thermoresponsiveness of PNVCL, used alone or in combination with other stimuli- responsive polymers or particles (pH, magnetic field, or chemicals), is often key in the loading and/or release process in these DDS. The renewed focus on this polymer, which is known for decades, is to a large extent due to recent progress in synthetic strategies. Especially, the advent of efficient controlled radical polymerization (CRP) methods for NVCL monomer gives now access to unprecedented well-defined NVCL-based copolymers with unique properties. This Review article addresses up-to-date synthetic aspects, biological features, and biomedical applications of the latest NVCL-containing systems.
authors.affiliation: Center for Education and Research on Macromolecules (CERM), University of Liege (ULg), Sart-Tilman B6A, B-4000, Liege, Belgium.
authors.forename: Ji
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Antoine
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Debuigne
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Detrembleur
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jérôme
mesh_terms: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D002209:Caprolactam / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D011108:Polymers; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D011108:Polymers; C086861:poly-N-vinylcaprolactam; D002209:Caprolactam
keywords: biomedical applications; controlled radical polymerizations; drug delivery systems; poly(N-vinylcaprolactam); self-assembly