Electrochemical attachment of thermo- and pH sensitive interpenetrating-polymers-network hydrogel to conducting surface

Electrochemically induced free-radical polymerization method with electrochemical quartz-crystal microbalance control was successfully used in the attachment, to the Pt electrode surface, of a network consisting of two independent, differently environmentally-sensitive and interpenetrating polymers networks (IPN). One constituent of the IPN network was the pH-sensitive poly(acrylic acid) and the other one the temperature sensitive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide). The obtained layer was very stable and exhibited strong reversible response to a change in both: temperature and pH.