Thermoresponsive Electrospun Polymer-based (Nano)fibers

Abstract

This chapter presents a brief overview of the electrospinning process followed by a literature survey on the fabrication of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)(PNIPAM)-based electrospun (nano)fibers and their applications. It highlights the recent developments in the fabrication of thermoresponsive polymer-based nano- and microfibers by means of the electrospinning technique. Electrospinning is a simple, scalable, and highly versatile method of low cost that enables the production of continuous polymer (nano)fibers. The introduction of polyurethanes enabled the tuning of both the mechanical and the wettability properties of the PNIPAM-containing blended fibers. The chapter overviews the development of electrospun thermoresponsive PNIPAM-based (nano)fibers and their evaluation in drug delivery, tissue engineering, biosensing, solid-phase microextraction, and molecular recognition. It is expected that continuous synthetic efforts will result in the enrichment of the highly emerging field of advanced thermoresponsive polymers and will further promote their industrial advancement.