Thermal sensitivity of carbon nanotube and graphene oxide containing responsive hydrogels

Comparative investigations are reported on poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPA) gels of various carbon nanotube (CNT) and graphene oxide (GO) contents synthesized under identical conditions. The kind and concentration of the incorporated carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) influence the swelling and stress-strain behaviour of the composites. Practically independently of the filler content, incorporation of CNPs appreciably improves the fracture stress properties of the gels. The time constant and the swelling ratio of the shrinkage following an abrupt increase in temperature of the swelling medium from 20 to 50 °C can be adjusted by selecting both the type and the amount of nanoparticle loading. This offers a means of accurately controlling the deswelling kinetics of drug release with PNIPA systems, and could be employed in sensor applications where fast and excessive shrinkage are a significant drawback. Both CNTs and GO enhance the infrared sensitivity of the PNIPA gel, thus opening a route for the design of novel drug transport and actuator systems. It is proposed that the influence of the CNPs depends more on their surface reactivity during the gel synthesis rather than on their morphology. One of the important findings of this study is the existence of a thermally conducting network in the GO filled gels.