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pH and Thermo Dual‐Responsive Fluorescent Hydrogel Actuator
Author(s) -
Wu BaoYi,
Le XiaoXia,
Jian YuKun,
Lu Wei,
Yang ZhenYu,
Zheng ZhiKun,
Théato Patrick,
Zhang JiaWei,
Zhang Afang,
Chen Tao
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
macromolecular rapid communications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.348
H-Index - 154
eISSN - 1521-3927
pISSN - 1022-1336
DOI - 10.1002/marc.201800648
Subject(s) - fluorescence , actuator , materials science , quenching (fluorescence) , perylene , moiety , smart material , self healing hydrogels , chemical engineering , nanotechnology , chemistry , polymer chemistry , computer science , optics , organic chemistry , physics , engineering , artificial intelligence
As one of the most important smart materials, fluorescent hydrogel actuators can produce both color and shape changes under external stimuli. In the present work, an effective approach to develop a novel fluorescent hydrogel actuator with pH and thermo dual responsiveness is proposed. Through incorporating pH‐responsive perylene tetracarboxylic acid (PTCA), which is a typical fluorescent moiety with aggregation‐caused quenching (ACQ) effect, into an anisotropic poly( N ‐isopropylacrylamide)–polyacrylamide (PNIPAm‐PAAm) structure, the obtained hydrogel exhibits stable thermoresponsive shape deformation and switchable fluorescence performance upon a pH trigger. Therefore, fluorescence‐quenching‐based and actuation‐based information can be revealed when exposed to UV light and immersed into warm water, respectively. Moreover, the thermoresponsive actuating behavior can be applied to further hide the fluorescence‐quenching‐based images. The present work may provide new insights into the design and preparation of novel stimuli‐responsive hydrogel actuators.