Responsive hydrogel layers—from synthesis to applications

Responsive polymer networks are interesting materials for a variety of different applications due to the fact that they can perform a large volume transition. However, the swelling transition is a diffusion limited process. Thus, the decrease of the feature size (e.g., in thin layers) is an appropriate way to create structures with reasonable response time. The possibility to pattern responsive polymer networks makes them useful for application in microsystem technology as well as in biomedicine. The transition behavior of these films showed similar trends to those of the corresponding linear polymers whereas confinement effects have been found for thin hydrogel layers. The ability to optimize the integration of these polymers is critical for the fabrication and development of platforms that harness the unique abilities of responsive polymer networks. Here, recent developments on chemically cross-linked hydrogel layers with respect to synthesis, characterization, and application are highlighted.