ABSTRACT
Surface functionalization is an extremely important field of science as the surface properties significantly affect the application of solid materials. Development on specific surface characteristics is thus always of importance and need, and has seen growing interest in recent years. One such surface property of recent interest is the reversible response of the materials to stimulants like temperature, pH, salt concentration changes, etc. Generation of this property on the surface of the materials leads to functionalized materials in which their nature, e.g., hydrophobicity or hydrophilicity, can be finely controlled by environmental stimulants like temperature, salt, pH, etc. This property translates the use of these materials in a number of applications, like temperature-controlled adsorption and desorption of biomolecules, temperature-controlled drug delivery processes, etc.
