Photodynamic Thermoresponsive Nanocarbon-Polymer Gel Hybrids

A study was conducted to demonstrate two different kinds of smart polymer (agarose and poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) gels, containing single-walled nanocarbons (SWNT) and single-walled nanohorns (SWNH). It was that the SWNTs and SWNHs showed significant phase transition upon near-infrared (NIR) irradiation. It was the first demonstration of a phase transition of a nanocarbon-polymer gel hybrid upon photoirradiation. The structure of nanocarbon-agarose gel hybrid was characterized first by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It was observed that the freeze-dried agarose gel forms a three-dimensional fibrous network, while the SWNT-agarose gel hybrid shows a close-packed and significantly thick fibrous network. It was also observed that the SWNH-agarose gel hybrid forms an agarose fibrous network with spherical SWNH nanoparticles distributed within it.