Issue 24, 2014

Tunable dual-stimuli response of a microgel composite consisting of reduced graphene oxide nanoparticles and poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) hydrogel microspheres

Abstract

A type of photo- and thermo-responsive composite microsphere composed of reduced graphene oxide nanoparticles and poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (rGO@pNIPAM) is successfully fabricated by a facile solution mixing method. Due to the high optical absorbance and thermal conduction of rGO, the composite microspheres are endowed with the new property of photo-response, in addition to the intrinsic thermally sensitive property of pNIPAM. This new ability undoubtedly enlarges the scope of applications of the microgel spheres. Furthermore, through controlling the rGO content in the composite, the photo- and thermo-sensitivity of the composite can be effectively modulated. That is, with a lower rGO content (≤32% by weight), the composite microspheres perform only thermally induced changes, such as volume contraction (by ∼45% in diameter) and drug release, when crossing the lower critical solution temperature of pNIPAM. With a higher rGO content (∼47.5%), both temperature and light irradiation can trigger changes in the composite. However, when the rGO content is increased to around 64.5%, the thermo-responsivity of the composite disappears, and the spheres exhibit only photo-induced drug release. With a further increase in rGO content, the environmentally responsive ability of the microspheres vanishes.

Graphical abstract: Tunable dual-stimuli response of a microgel composite consisting of reduced graphene oxide nanoparticles and poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) hydrogel microspheres

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
11 Jan 2014
Accepted
18 Mar 2014
First published
18 Mar 2014

J. Mater. Chem. B, 2014,2, 3791-3798

Author version available

Tunable dual-stimuli response of a microgel composite consisting of reduced graphene oxide nanoparticles and poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) hydrogel microspheres

N. Lu, J. Liu, J. Li, Z. Zhang, Y. Weng, B. Yuan, K. Yang and Y. Ma, J. Mater. Chem. B, 2014, 2, 3791 DOI: 10.1039/C4TB00070F

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements