Beinn V. O. Muir1, Cathrin Corten2, Dirk Kuckling2, Shan X. Wang3, Wolfgang Knoll4, and Curtis W. Frank1. (1) Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, 381 North South Mall, Stanford, CA 94305-5025, (2) Fachrichtung für Chemie und Lebensmittelchemie, Dresden, D-01062, Germany, (3) Department of Materials Science, Stanford University, Peterson Building 550, Stanford, CA 94305-2205, (4) Materials Science, Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, Mainz, 55128, Germany
Hydrogels are highly cross-linked hydrophilic polymers that undergo rapid volume changes in response to external stimuli gradients such as temperature or pH. Through the formation of surface-tethered patterned hydrogel thin films, the swelling characteristics can be controlled. These polymer systems offer ideal scaffolds for the incorporation of responsive nanoparticles, which can be used either as sensing elements, as energy coupling agents for actuator systems, or as bistable switching systems. Here we report on the magnetic and physical analysis of composite films formed through the incorporation of magnetic nanoparticles into photo-cross-linkable temperature sensitive N-isopropylacrylamide copolymer thin films.