Table of Contents

PREFACE ; INTRODUCTION ; THE GEL STATE ; 1. Kinetics of the N-Isopropylacrylamide Gel-Volume Phase Transition in the Presence of Free Polymer Chains ; 2. Transient Network of Random Copolymers of Sodium 2-(Acrylamido)-2-methylpropanesulfonate and Associative Macromonomers ; 3. Network Inhomogeneities in Polymer Gels ; 4. Thermoreversible and Irreversible Physical Gels from Biopolymers ; 5. Inorganic-Organic Hybrid Gel: Structural Characteristics and Formation Mechanism ; NOVEL GELS ; 6. Synthesis and Characterization of pH-Responsive Poly(organophosphazene) Hydrogels ; 7. Chitin and Chitosan in Gel Network Systems ; 8. The Behavior of Amphiphilic Block Copolymers in Water and Their Association Behavior ; 9. Phase Transitions in Interpolymer Complexes of Some Linear and Cross-Linked Polymers ; 10. Structure of Polyampholyte Gels and Their Behavior with Respect to Applied External DC Electric Field ; 11. Hydrogel Polymers from Alkylthio Acrylates for Biomedical Applications ; 12. Stimuli-Responsive Gels Based on Ring-Opened Polyferrocenes: Synthesis, Characterization, and Electrochemical Studies of Swellable, Thermally Cross-Linked Polyferrocenylsilanes ; RHEOLOGY AND GEL INTERACTIONS ; 13. Hydrocarbon Gels: Rheological Investigation of Structure ; 14. Rheology of Epoxy-Amine Systems Near the Gel Point ; 15. Amphiphilic Hydrogels with Highly Ordered Hydrophobic Dendritic Domains ; 16. The Effect of Hydrophobicity on the Viscoelastic Creep Characteristics of Poly(ethylene glycol)-Acrylate Hydrogels ; 17. Gel Network Development in AB, ABA, and AB/ABA Block Copolymer Solutions in a Selective Solvent ; 18. Photoresponsive Thickening in Polyamphiphile-Based Physical Gels: The Examples of Micelle, Protein, and Cyclodextrin Cross-Linkers ; GELS IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY ; 19. Amphiphilic Gels with Controlled Mesh Dimensions for Insulin Delivery ; 20. Controlled Drug Delivery from Injectable Biodegradable Triblock Copolymer ; 21. (N-isopropylacrylamide) Copolymers: Hydrogel Formation via Photocrosslinking ; 22. Various Interactions of Drugs with Cross-Linked Hyaluronate Gel ; INDEXES ; Author Index ; Subject Index

Reviews

"[P]resents a snapshot of the current trends in the synthesis, characterization, and application of a variety of different gels. ... I would highly recommend this book to those interested in developing rheological methods for analyzing gels and other complex fluids ..."--Polymer News