Cover Image, Volume 57, Issue 11

In their study reported on page 670, Maria Kanidi and colleagues developed thin films of PS/PNIPAM polymer blends that show a reversible wetting behavior due to the thermoresponsivity of PNIPAM. Upon heating, the films show an increase in water contact angle due to increased hydrophobicity. Spin-casted films of PS/PNIPAM blends provide the possibility to develop smart surfaces by simple and controllable methods suitable for numerous applications that require control of wettability over large areas, such as self-cleaning surfaces, industrial surface coatings, tissue engineering, cell encapsulation, enzyme immobilization, sensing, and microfluidics, among others. (DOI: 10.1002/polb.24822)