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Responsive hydrogel thin films : design and functionalities
Surface-attached hydrogel films are actual novel alternative to brushes and layer-by-layer assemblies as polymer thin layers. We have recently developed a simple and versatile approach to synthesize reliable and reproducible films with thickness widely ranging from a few nanometers to several micrometers. Surface-attached hydrogel films show very interesting responsive properties : they reversibly modify their thickness with temperature by absorbing/expulsing water with high amplitude change (the change is four-fold or more) ; the transition is sharp and rapid (within a few degrees around the transition temperature and below one second) ; hydrogels with adjustable internal architectures can be built such as multilayer hydrogel films, nanocomposite hydrogel films, micro-patterns of hydrogels. I will show that the tailoring of surface-attached hydrogels with well-controlled chemistry allows to face new challenges in various areas. This approach of polymer thin layers makes possible a fine characterization of mechanical properties (friction and adhesion) of hydrogel films in water. Temperature-responsive hydrogels are also used as actuators in microfluidic devices. Moreover, they are suitable for the development of modulable Bragg mirrors with high spectroscopic shift.
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D’Eramo, L. ; Chollet, B. ; Leman, M. ; Martwong, E. ; Li, M. ; Geisler, H. ; Dupire, J. ; Kerdraon, M. ; Vergne, C. ; Monti, F. ; Tran, Y. ; Tabeling, P. Microfluidic actuators based on thermo-responsive hydrogels. Nature Micro Nano 2018, 4, 17069.
Delavoipière, J. ; Tran, Y. ; Verneuil, E. ; Heurtefeu, B. ; Hui, C. Y. ; Chateauminois, A. Friction of poroelastic contacts with thin hydrogel films. Langmuir 2018, 34, 9617-9626.
Dompé, M. ; Cedano Serrano, F. J. ; Heckert O. ; Tran, Y. ; Hourdet, D. ; Van den Heuvel, N. ; Van der Gucht, J. ; Creton, C. ; Kamperman, M. Thermoresponsive complex coacervate-based underwater adhesive. Adv. Mater. 2019, 31, 1808179.