Stimuli Responsive Polymers

“Stimuli-responsive”, “smart”, or “intelligent” polymers are those able to modify their physical-chemical properties in response to the variation of environmental factors. Stimuli-responsive systems can be designed to respond to a wide range of external variables, such as changes in temperature, ionic strength, pH, electric and magnetic fields, or light. These polymers can respond to stimuli in several ways by altering shape, solubility, wettability, color, conductivity, light transmitting abilities, and surface characteristics when a stimulus or stimuli are applied.