Poly( N ‐isopropylacrylamide): Physicochemical Properties and Biomedical Applications

This chapter focuses on polymerization techniques, and provides examples that address Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)'s (PNIPAM) potential applications as biomaterial in drug and gene delivery and bioseparation. It introduces the general physicochemical properties of PNIPAM. PNIPAM is an especially interesting thermosensitive polymer for application in biomedical and pharmaceutical sciences because of its sharp lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of 32∘C in aqueous media. The mechanism of drug release from thermosensitive liposomes is related to the melting phase transition temperature of the phospholipids. The chapter provides examples of the systems along with the effect of copolymer composition on the LCST of PNIPAM. In addition, different methods of chemical and physical crosslinking and their effects on properties of the final materials are discussed. The chapter outlines future prospects of PNIPAM in biomedical and pharmaceutical applications.