Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) Microparticle Formation in Water by Infrared Laser-Induced Photo-Thermal Phase Transition

Abstract
Irradiation of a focused 1064 nm laser beam to an aqueous poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) solution resulted in the reversible microparticle (diameter ≈ 7 μm) formation through local heating of water by the laser beam and subsequent phase transition of the polymer solution. The microparticle produced was simultaneously manipulated in three-dimensional space by the incident 1064 nm laser beam.