Gels· 2026Q1· Review
Thermal Phase Behavior of PNIPAM-Based Hydrogels: Different Scenarios and Implications in Injectable Hydrogel Design
- 0citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2026year
Short summary
PNIPAM-based hydrogels exhibit thermal phase behavior critical for injectable biomedical applications, with gelation sometimes occurring independently of the coil-to-globule transition.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- PNIPAM-based hydrogels are 'smart' materials with LCST near physiological temperature, enabling biomedical applications.
- The review covers thermal phase behavior in both polymer solutions (physical gelation) and crosslinked hydrogels (volume phase transitions).
- It discusses the thermodynamics and mechanisms of the coil-to-globule transition and its relation to gel formation.
- Different phase diagram types are presented, including cases where gelation is separate from the coil-to-globule transition.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM)-based hydrogels are “smart” materials of great interest and demand, primarily in a variety of biomedical applications, due to their LCST close to physiological temperature. The basic biomedical applications of PNIPAM-based injectable hydrogels include controlled drug delivery, tissue engineering, wound healing, and cancer therapy. This review summarizes the thermal phase behavior of PNIPAM-based systems under different conditions, including different scenarios of physical gelation in polymer solutions and volume phase transitions in chemically crosslinked hydrogels. The thermodynamics of the coil-to-globule phase transition, its relation to gel formation, and mechanisms underlying the phase transitions in PNIPAM-based hydrogels are discussed, as well as external parameters which may affect these processes. Different types of phase diagrams observed for PNIPAM-based systems are considered, with particular attention paid to the cases in which gelation occurs separately from the coil-to-globule transition. The rational design of injectable platforms should be based upon a thorough understanding of the PNIPAM-based system’s phase behavior to achieve controllable and reproducible properties.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Gels, 2026 · DOI ↗
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Molecular MedicineBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology