Abstract
One of the hottest application areas of stimuli-responsive polymers is medicine. Enormous efforts are being made in this field, which is continually expanding and growing. This chapter outlines fundamental approaches in the development of stimuli-responsive materials as drug carriers, including micelles, liposomes, nanoparticles, gels, polymeric films and gene carriers. In contrast to passive drug delivery systems, stimuli-responsive polymers offer numerous advantages by interacting and responding to environmental conditions. Furthermore, the ability of tuning into specific targeted areas by adjusting pH or temperature responsiveness offers unprecedented opportunity for targeted delivery tailored to specific settings.
Publisher
The Royal Society of Chemistry