Rapid facile in situ synthesis of the Au/Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) thermosensitive gels as temperature sensors

•A facile route for in situ synthesis of the Au/PNIPAM thermosensitive gels at room temperature.•The fluorescence of the Au/PNIPAM gels exhibited excellent thermosensitive properties.•The Au/PNIPAM thermosensitive gels could be developed as a temperature sensor.

A facile route for in situ synthesis of the highly fluorescent Au/Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (Au/PNIPAM) thermosensitive gels at room temperature has been developed. The as-prepared hybrid Au/PNIPAM gels were characterized by UV–vis absorption spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurement, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), etc. The fluorescence intensity of the Au/PNIPAM gels exhibited excellent thermosensitive properties. Moreover, the fluorescence quenching and enhancement process was fully reversible after repeated heating and cooling cycles. So the Au/PNIPAM thermosensitive gels could be developed as fluorescence intensity variation-based temperature sensors.