@article{JelkenPandiyarajanGenzeretal.2018, author = {Jelken, Joachim and Pandiyarajan, Chinnayan Kannan and Genzer, Jan and Lomadze, Nino and Santer, Svetlana}, title = {Fabrication of flexible hydrogel sheets featuring periodically spaced circular holes with continuously adjustable size in realtime}, series = {ACS applied materials \& interfaces}, volume = {10}, journal = {ACS applied materials \& interfaces}, number = {36}, publisher = {American Chemical Society}, address = {Washington}, issn = {1944-8244}, doi = {10.1021/acsami.8b09580}, pages = {30844 -- 30851}, year = {2018}, abstract = {We report on the formation of stimuli-responsive structured hydrogel thin films whose pattern geometry can be adjusted on demand and tuned reversibly by varying solvent quality or by changing temperature. The hydrogel films, similar to 100 nm in thickness, were prepared by depositing layers of random copolymers comprising N-isopropylacrylamide and ultraviolet (UV)-active methacryloyloxybenzophenone units onto solid substrates. A two-beam interference pattern technique was used to cross-link the selected areas of the film; any unreacted material was extracted using ethanol after UV light-assisted cross-linking. In this way, we produced nanoholes, perfectly ordered structures with a narrow size distribution, negligible tortuosity, adjustable periodicity, and a high density. The diameter of the circular holes ranged from a few micrometers down to several tens of nanometers; the hole periodicity could be adjusted readily by changing the optical period of the UV interference pattern. The holes were reversibly closed and opened by swelling/deswelling the polymer networks in the presence of ethanol and water, respectively, at various temperatures. The reversible regulation of the hole diameter can be repeated many times within a few seconds. The hydrogel sheet with circular holes periodically arranged may also be transferred onto different substrates and be employed as tunable templates for the deposition of desired substances.}, language = {en} } @misc{SchimkaLomadzeRabeetal.2017, author = {Schimka, Selina and Lomadze, Nino and Rabe, Maren and Kopyshev, Alexey and Lehmann, Maren and von Klitzing, Regine and Rumyantsev, Artem M. and Kramarenko, Elena Yu. and Santer, Svetlana}, title = {Photosensitive microgels containing azobenzene surfactants of different charges}, series = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe}, journal = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe}, number = {461}, issn = {1866-8372}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-413528}, year = {2017}, abstract = {We report on light sensitive microgel particles that can change their volume reversibly in response to illumination with light of different wavelengths. To make the anionic microgels photosensitive we add surfactants with a positively charged polyamine head group and an azobenzene containing tail. Upon illumination, azobenzene undergoes a reversible photo-isomerization reaction from a trans- to a cis-state accompanied by a change in the hydrophobicity of the surfactant. Depending on the isomerization state, the surfactant molecules are either accommodated within the microgel (trans-state) resulting in its shrinkage or desorbed back into water (cis-isomer) letting the microgel swell. We have studied three surfactants differing in the number of amino groups, so that the number of charges of the surfactant head varies between 1 and 3. We have found experimentally and theoretically that the surfactant concentration needed for microgel compaction increases with decreasing number of charges of the head group. Utilization of polyamine azobenzene containing surfactants for the light triggered remote control of the microgel size opens up a possibility for applications of light responsive microgels as drug carriers in biology and medicine.}, language = {en} }