Stimuli-responsive nanostructured materials
Sergiy Minko
Response to stimuli is one of the major life processes, by which living systems interact with the external environment. Advances in nanotechnology have focused on designing "responsive to stimuli" or "smart" materials that mimic many processes found in living systems.
The talk addresses our recent results on the synthesis, study, interesting applications and prospects of nanostructured polymer and colloidal systems for the fabrication of smart responsive surfaces, membranes, sensors with various transduction mechanisms, micro/nanoactuators, and capsules. We also use surface modification of nanoparticles with a stimuli-responsive shell for a new intriguing opportunity to turn on and off and tune interactions between nanoparticles, allowing control of the directed self-assembly with external stimuli/signals. The stimuli responsive polymeric and hybrid systems demonstrate strong advantages for the fabrication of robust multifunctional and multiresponsive materials and nanodevices.