Temperature and pH responsive polymers: sensing applications

Responsive polymers are considered smart materials since they undergo physical or structural changes in response to external stimuli like pH or temperature. While those polymers have been conventionally used in catalysis, textile/coating industries, drug/gene delivery, and tissue engineering; more recent research is focused on the application as a sensor. In many cases, external stimuli like pH or temperature are detected by converting the transition behavior of responsive polymers into an easily visible output signal. In this review article, we have summed up previously reported literature under the giver persuasion, mostly between the years 2010–2020 to highlight the recent developments in the promising role of responsive polymers as a smart sensor to detect either single stimuli like temperature/pH, or dual-stimuli by combining more than one responsive block like temperature and pH.