Issue 23, 2015

Advanced stimuli-responsive polymer nanocapsules with enhanced capabilities for payloads delivery

Abstract

Stimuli-responsive polymer nanocapsules (PNCs) are smart nanocarriers that encapsulate functional payloads and release them on demand upon external triggers. Stimuli-responsive PNCs are of interest in a wide range of disciplines such as pharmaceutics, agriculture, and materials science. Studies on stimuli-responsive PNCs so far are widely reported but are mainly focused on using only one stimulus to release one payload. However, a nanocarrier is efficient if distinct payloads can be selectively released via different stimuli because unwanted and unspecific release can be avoided. Here, the recent progress of stimuli-responsive PNCs that possess enhanced capabilities for payloads delivery is highlighted, including PNCs that respond to multiple stimuli, stimuli-responsive PNCs that co-encapsulate different payloads, and stimuli-responsive PNCs that release the payloads selectively or in a pulsatile way. Finally, the possible future directions in this area are suggested.

Graphical abstract: Advanced stimuli-responsive polymer nanocapsules with enhanced capabilities for payloads delivery

Article information

Article type
Review Article
Submitted
04 Mar 2015
Accepted
31 Mar 2015
First published
14 Apr 2015
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Polym. Chem., 2015,6, 4197-4205

Advanced stimuli-responsive polymer nanocapsules with enhanced capabilities for payloads delivery

Y. Zhao, L. Lv, S. Jiang, K. Landfester and D. Crespy, Polym. Chem., 2015, 6, 4197 DOI: 10.1039/C5PY00323G

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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