Smart Polymers are polymers that respond to characteristics of their environment such as pH, temperature, calcium, magnesium, organic solvents, magnetic field, electrical potential, IR radiation and UV radiation. Polymer responses can include altering color or transparency, becoming conductive or permeable to water or changing shape (shape memory polymers).
Below is a table I made of common polymers and their stimuli, based off a table in Fundamentals of BioMEMS and Medical Microdevices by Steven S. Saliterman.
| Stimulus | Polymer |
| pH | Dendrimers |
| Poly(L-lysene) ester | |
| Poly(hydroxyl-proline) | |
| Lactose-PEG grafted poly(L-lysine) nanoparticle | |
| Poly(L-lysine) – g-poly(histidine) | |
| Poly(n-propyl acrylate) | |
| Poly(ethacrylic acid) (PEA) | |
| Polysilamine (a heterotelechelic oligomer) | |
| Eudragit S-100 | |
| Eudragit L-100 | |
| Chitosan | |
| PMAA-PEG copolymer | |
| Calcium | Alginate |
| Magnesium | Chitosan |
| Organic Solvent | Eudragit S-100 |
| Temperature | Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) |
| Magnetic Fields | PNIPAAm hydrogels with ferromagnetic material |
| Sol-gel transition | Poloxamers (Block copolymers of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and polyptopylene glycol (PPG)) |
| Chitosan-glycerol phosphate-water | |
| Electric Potential | Polythiophen gel |
| Collagen (Piezoelectric) | |
| IR radiation | Poly(N-vinylcarbazole) composite |
| UV radiation | Polyacrylamide crosslinked with 4-(methylacryloyamino)azobenzene |
| Polyacrylamide-triphenylmethane leuco derivatives | |
| Ultrasound | Dodecyl isocyanate-modified PEG-grafted poly(hydrohyethyl-methacrylate) Poly(HEME) |
We can also have polymers that respond to multiple stimuli at the same time (Dual-Stimuli). These are listed in the table below.
| Stimulus | Polymer |
| Calcium/PEG | Carboxymethyl Cellulose |
| Calcium/Temperature | Eudragit S-100 |
| Calcium/Acetonitrile | Eudragit S-100 |
| 32-36°C | Hydrogels of oligoNIPAAm and oligo(N-vinylcaprolactam) |
| pH/Temperature | Poly(N-acryloyl-N’-propyl piperazine) |
| Light/Temperature | Poly(vinyl-alcohol)-graft-poly-acrylamide-triphenylmethane leucocyanide derivative |