Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and disability TBI survivors often suffer from severe disturbances of cognition, memory and emotions. Improving the treatment is of great importance, but as of yet no specific neuroprotective treatment has been found. After TBI there are changes in ion homeostasis and protein regulation, causing generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Overproduction of ROS can lead to damage cellmembranes, proteins and DNA and secondary cell death. In the present thesis experimental TBI in rats were used to study the effects of the ROS scavengers α-phenyl-N-tert-butyl-nitrone (PBN) and 2-sulfophenyl-N-tert-butyl-nitrone (S-PBN) on morphology, function, intracellular signalling and apoptosis. Posttreatment with PBN and S-PBN resulted in attenuation of tissue loss after TBI and S-PBN improved cognitive function evaluated in the Morris water maze (MWM). Pretreatment with PBN protected hippocampal morphology, which correlated to better MWM-performance after TBI. To detect ROS-generation in vivo, a method using 4-hydroxybenzoic acid (4-HBA) microdialysis in the injured cortex was refined. 4-HBA reacts with ROS to form 3,4-DHBA, which can be quantified using HPLC, revealing that ROS-formation was increased for 90 minutes after TBI. It was possible to attenuate the formation significantly with PBN and S-PBN treatment. The activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) is generally considered beneficial for cell survival. However, persistent ERK activation was found in the injured cortex after TBI, coinciding with apoptosis-like cell death 24 h after injury. Pretreatment with the MEK-inhibitor U0126 and S-PBN significantly decreased ERK activation and reduced apoptosis-like cell death. Posttreatment with U0126 or S-PBN showed robust protection of cortical tissue. To conclude: ROS-mediated mechanisms play an important role in secondary cell death following TBI. The observed effects of ROS in intracellular signalling may be important for defining new targets for neuroprotective intervention.

A number of novel isoindoline nitroxides have been synthesised using a variety of synthetic techniques. Several carbon-carbon bond forming methodologies, including the first examples of Heck and Sonogashira coupling applied to the isoindoline nitroxide class, were utilised to give novel robust aromatic frameworks. Palladium-catalysed Heck coupling of brominated nitroxides and ester-substituted olefins generates novel nitroxides possessing extended conjugation. Hydrolysis of the nitroxide esters gave the corresponding carboxylic acids, which showed enhanced water solubility. Sonogashira coupling of an iodo-isoindoline nitroxide gave several novel alkynesubstituted nitroxides in high yield. Subsequent coupling of a deprotected ethynyl nitroxide with aromatic iodides gave acetylene-linked nitroxides and an acetylene linked nitroxide dimer. A butadiyne linked dinitroxide was successfully synthesised via Eglinton oxidative coupling of two ethynyl nitroxides. The synthesis of a novel water-soluble dicarboxy nitroxide was achieved by base hydrolysis of a dinitrile. Functional group interconversion furnished anhydride and imide substituted nitroxides from the diacid. Subjecting the imide to the Hofmann rearrangement gave an unexpected brominated amino-carboxy nitroxide. The dicarboxy nitroxide and the brominated amino-carboxy nitroxide were both shown to have a protective effect on Ataxia-Telangiectasia cells, indicating a possible role as antioxidants in the treatment of this disease. A fluorescein nitroxide was successfully synthesised through the condensation of the anhydride substituted nitroxide and resorcinol. After limited success using a variety of other techniques, Buchwald-Hartwig amination was able to furnish a rhodamine nitroxide, via a triflate-fluorescein nitroxide. The extended aromatic nitroxides possess suppressed fluorescence and we have described these systems as profluorescent. The profluorescent nitroxides were found to have significantly lower quantum yields than the non-radical analogues and displayed a substantial increase in fluorescence intensity upon radical trapping, making them useful probes for free radical reactions.

L’objectif de ce travail fut d’améliorer la modélisation et la simulation de la polymérisation radicalaire dans des réacteurs continus et discontinus. Une solution analytique explicite généralisée (AS) fut obtenue dans le cas de la polymérisation en masse/solution, homogène et isotherme menée dans un réacteur fermé de volume variable. Les différentes étapes considérées furent l'initiation, la propagation, le transfert au monomère, au solvant, à un agent de transfert de chaîne, la terminaison par combinaison et dismutation. Différents modèles rendant compte des effets de gel, de vitrification et de cage ont également été considérés. AS a été validée avec succès par comparaison avec des solutions numériques et des données expérimentales de la littérature. Par ailleurs, AS a été étendue à des conditions pour lesquelles elle ne fut pas originellement développée comme par exemple des conditions non isothermes. La polyvalence et la flexibilité de AS sur l’ensemble de l’échelle de conversion du monomère furent ainsi démontrées. Ensuite, pour élargir encore plus son champ d'application, AS fut utilisée dans des simulations numériques (CFD). Une nouvelle transformation très simple a été proposée afin d’adimensionnaliser les constantes cinétiques en terme de concentration. Cela a permis de rentrer dans les simulations les données chimiques sous leur forme originale en mole et de faciliter ainsi le codage et le débogage du code de calcul. Cette transformation a ensuite été utilisée pour évaluer trois géométries tubulaires de microréacteur, un réacteur tubulaire droit (STR), à géométrie hélicoïdale (CTR) et à inversion de flux (CFIR), dans des conditions d'alimentation différentes (fluides d’entrée non ou parfaitement mélangés) et à de très faibles nombres de Reynolds (<1). La modélisation a été réalisée avec des paramètres constants ou variables des propriétés physiques du fluide sous écoulement (densité, viscosité et conductivité thermique) ainsi qu’en variant de manière discrète les coefficients de diffusion. Leurs effets sur les résultats de simulation ont été observés et comparés avec les données expérimentales publiées pour 4 monomères différents et furent en très bon accord. Les résultats pour le cas d’un mélange parfait furent indépendants de la géométrie des microréacteurs. Le CFIR semble être le réacteur le plus prometteur puisque, dans les conditions de microréaction étudiées, il a permis le meilleur contrôle des caractéristiques du polymère synthétisé. / This thesis aimed at improving the modeling and simulation of free radical polymerization (FRP) in batch as well as in flow reactors. A generalized explicit analytical solution (AS) was obtained in case of variable volume, bulk/solution polymerization, homogeneous and isothermal batch reactor. The reaction steps included initiation, propagation, transfer to monomer, transfer to solvent, transfer to chain transfer agent (CTA), termination by combination and disproportionation. Different models of gel, glass and cage effects were also implemented explicitly. AS was validated against numerical solutions as well as published experimental data and was found in good agreement. Furthermore, its applicability was extended to conditions for which AS was not derived, i.e. non-isothermal conditions. The versatility and flexibility of AS over the complete range of monomer conversion were thus demonstrated. Then, to broaden its applications range even more, AS was used in CFD simulations. A new and simple transformation was proposed to make kinetic rate coefficients dimensionless in terms of concentration. This enabled chemical data to be fed in molar form to CFD modeling. It also enabled easy coding and debugging by keeping the original form of generation terms intact. The results were found to be improved after validation against experimental data. This transformation was then used for evaluating three tubula microreactor geometries, namely straight tube reactor (STR), coiled tube reactor (CTR) and coil flow inverter reactor (CFIR), under different feed conditions (unmixed or perfectly mixed) at very low Reynolds numbers (<1). The modeling for FRP was performed with constant or variable fluid physical parameters (density, viscosity and thermal conductivity) along with discrete variation of diffusion coefficients. Their effects on simulation results were observed and compared with published experimental data for 4 different monomers and were found to match perfectly. Results for mixed feed condition were found to be independent of microreactor geometry. CFIR seems to be the most promising reactor design under microreaction investigated conditions as it allowed the best control over polymer characteristics.

O comportamento eletroquímico do Nitrofural (NFZ) foi estudado em eletrodos de pasta de carbono, carbono vítreo e diamante altamente dopado com boro (EDADB) em tampão Britton-Robinson (BR) usando a voltametria cíclica. Os melhores resultados foram obtidos em EDADB, no qual foi possível estabilizar o radical aniônico (R-NO2&#8226;&#8254) em meio predominantemente aquoso, como também estudar a interação entre o R-NO2&#8226;&#8254; a glutationa (GSH), a L-cisteína (Cis) e o O2. Somente na superfície do EDADB, o NFZ foi diretamente reduzido à amina derivada (R-NH2) no intervalo de 2,02 &#8804; pH &#8804; 4,03 num processo envolvendo seis (6,0 ± 0,4) elétrons e seis prótons. Na faixa de 7,04 &#8804 pH &#8804; 12 e meio predominantemente aquoso, a etapa de redução desmembrou-se em seus dois componentes: a redução do NFZ ao nitro radical aniônico (R-NO2&#8226;&#8254;) e posterior redução deste ao derivado hidroxilamínico (R-NHOH) em processos envolvendo um e três (3,1 ± 0,1) elétrons respectivamente. No sentido anódico da varredura dos voltamogramas cíclicos registrados em pH 8,06, observou-se a oxidação da hidroxilamina ao derivado nitroso (R-NO), num processo envolvendo 2 (1,7 ± 0,2) elétrons e 2 prótons. Além disto, um novo pico de oxidação não relatado na literatura em qualquer material de eletrodo foi detectado em pH &#8804; 8,06, que foi observado não importando se o NFZ havia sido previamente reduzido ou não. O cálculo do número de elétrons, n, envolvido em cada etapa eletroquímica foi satisfatoriamente estimado usando-se a equação de Randles-Sevcik. Na presença de [Tiol] &#8804; 3,7 x 10-2 mol L-1, o NFZ é reduzido ao aduto R-NO-Tiol em um processo eletroquímico envolvendo dois elétrons e dois prótons. Por outro lado, o O2 atua como um aceptor de R-NO2&#8226;&#8254; e a constante de equilíbrio para a transferência monoeletrônica do R-NO2&#8226;&#8254; para o oxigênio, kO2, é 60. O processo é catalítico e pode ser utilizado para a determinação analítica de NFZ na faixa de 9,9 x 10-7 &#8804; [NFZ] &#8804; 1,1 x 10-5 mol L-1 em pH 8,06, com sensibilidade amperométrica de 2,2 x 104 µA L mol-1 cm-2 e limite de detecção de 3,4 x 10-7 mol L-1. Os parâmetros analíticos foram similares aqueles obtidos em pH 4,0 usando a redução direta do NFZ à respectiva amina derivada em um processo envolvendo seis elétrons e seis prótons. A caracterização do processo de redução total do NFZ em meio aquoso e velocidades de varredura relativamente baixas, 100 mV s-1, somente foi possível devido às características superficiais intrínsecas do EDADB, o qual estabiliza o radical livre, R-NO2&#8226;&#8254;, permitindo trabalhar numa ampla janela de potencial, sem haver perda do sinal de oxidação do R-NO2&#8226;&#8254;. / The electrochemical behaviour of nitrofural (NFZ) at carbon paste, glassy carbon and highly boron doped diamond (HBDD) electrodes was studied in Britton- Robinson (BR) buffer using cyclic voltammetry. The best results were obtained at HBDD electrodes, in which it was possible to stabilize the radical anion (R-NO2&#8226;&#8254;) in predominantly aqueous medium as well as to study the interaction between the radical anion and glutathione (GSH), L-cysteine (Cys), and O2. Only at HBDD surface, NFZ was directly reduced to the amine derivative (R-NH2) in the pH range of 2.02 to 4.03 in a process involving six (6.0 ± 0.4) electrons and six protons. In the range of pH 7.04 to 12 and, predominantly aqueous medium, the reduction step split into its two components: the reduction of NFZ to the nitro radical anion (R-NO2&#8226;&#8254;) and reduction of R-NO2&#8226;&#8254; to hydroxylamine derivative (R--NHOH) in processes involving one and three (3.1 ± 0.1) electrons respectively. On the anodic scan of the cyclic voltammograms and at pH 8.06, it was observed the oxidation of the hydroxylamine to the nitroso derivative (R-NO), in a process involving 2 (1.7 ± 0.2) electrons and 2 protons. In addition and unreported in the literature on any electrode material, was the detection of a new oxidation peak at pH > 8.06, which was observed regardless of whether NFZ had been previously reduced or not. The calculation of n, number of electrons, involved in each electrochemical step was satisfactorily accomplished using the Randles-Sevcik equation. In presence of [Thiol] &#8804; 3.7 x 10-2 mol L-1 NFZ is directly reduced to R-NO---Thiol adducts in an electrochemical process involving two electrons and two protons. On the other side, O2 acts as a R-NO2&#8226;&#8254; scavenger and the equilibrium constant for the electron transfer from nitro radical to oxygen, kO2, is 60. The process is catalytic and can be used to the analytical determination of NFZ in the range of 9.9 x 10-7 &#8804; [NFZ] &#8804; 1.1 x 10-5 mol L-1 at pH 8.0, with amperometric sensitivity of 2.2 x 104 µA L mol-1 cm-2 and detection limit of 3.4 x 10-7 mol L-1. The analytical parameters were similar to those obtained at pH 4.03 using the direct reduction of NFZ to the respective amine derivative in a process involving six electrons and six protons. The characterization of NFZ global reduction process in aqueous medium and at relative low scan rate, 100 mVs-1, was only possible due the intrinsic superficial characteristics of the HBDD electrode, which stabilize the R-NO2&#8226;&#8254; free radical, allowing to work in a large potential window, without losing the R-NO2&#8226;&#8254; oxidation signal.

Les gazoles, carburant automobile préféré des français, sont « additivés » afin de permettre leur utilisation en hiver. Les n-paraffines présentes dans ces gazoles cristallisent en effet à basse température. Ces cristaux peuvent alors entraîner le colmatage des filtres protecteurs situés en amont du moteur. Des polymères à base d'éthylène, notamment les copolymères éthylène-acétate de vinyle (EVA), sont utilisés pour abaisser la température à laquelle les problématiques de filtration adviennent. Un nouveau procédé de copolymérisation radicalaire d'éthylène et d'acétate de vinyle, à plus basse pression et à plus basse température, que le procédé industriel actuel, a été développé au cours de cette thèse. Une grande variété d'EVA a ainsi été obtenue. Ils présentent des caractéristiques structurelles et une efficacité, pour le traitement des gazoles, similaires aux EVA commerciaux. Ce procédé a, par ailleurs, permis la synthèse d'autres co- et terpolymères de l'éthylène variant par la nature des comonomères polaires utilisés ou par l'architecture. Des modèles de copolymères EVA ont été également synthétisés par métathèse. La grande diversité d'additifs polymères à disposition combinée à des techniques d'analyse thermique et de diffusion des rayons X mises en oeuvre au plus proche de l'application (en particulier dans le gazole), ont permis de mieux appréhender leur mode d'action sur la cristallisation des n-paraffines. Les spécificités structurelles, des polymères, conditionnant leur efficacité pour le traitement de la tenue à froid des gazoles ont également pu être établies / The additivation of diesel fuels allows operating engines at low temperatures without filter blocking and thus fulfilling legal requirements. Ethylene based copolymers such as ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymers, made by free radical polymerization at high pressure (above 2000 bars) and high temperature (above 200 °C) are frequently used as middle distillate cold flow improvers (MDFI). A new free radical copolymerization process of ethylene and vinyl acetate in organic solvent media has been developed. This process gives access to polymers close to commercial MDFI additives under tremendous less drastic conditions (under 250 bars of ethylene and 70 °C). Thanks to this process, a wide diversity (variation of the nature of the polar unit, of polymer architecture…) of ethylene based polymers was obtained. Moreover, EVA model copolymers have been synthesized by metathesis. Thanks to these numerous and diverse ethylene based polymers combined with thermal analysis and X-ray scattering studies a better understanding of the operating mode of these additives in a diesel fuel has been achieved. The structural characteristics of the polymers enabling their effectiveness as diesel fuel cold flow improvers have also been established

Résumé confidentiel / Résumé confidentiel

Les polymères de spécialité en solution dans l’eau sont typiquement produits en réacteur agité dans des ateliers multi-produit, offrant la possibilité de produire une large gamme de produits. Cependant, les limites inhérentes au réacteur batch se concrétisent dans ce type de production par une variation de la qualité de polymère d’une synthèse à l’autre, d’une phase de développement difficile de l’échelle laboratoire à la production industrielle, et d’une technologie offrant des échanges de chaleur limité. Des conditions diluées sont requises ce qui implique des cycles de production longs. Le passage vers un procédé continu pourrait être une bonne alternative s’il permet d’accélérer les temps de réaction mais aussi de garantir une qualité de polymère constante dans le temps. Cela signifie dans notre cas un polymère avec une masse molaire élevée et un indice de polymolécularité faible. Inscrit dans le cadre du projet européen F3Factory, l’étude a consisté à la conception d’un pilote de laboratoire destiné à la polymérisation en continu puis à l’étude d’un procédé industriel batch dans ce pilote. Il s’agit de la polymérisation radicalaire d’un copolymère de l’acide acrylique qui comporte deux problématiques principales, une réaction exothermique couplée à une viscosité élevée. Le pilote de laboratoire est équipé d’un réacteur tubulaire contenant des mélangeurs statiques de marque Fluitec avec un débit de 1 à 2kg.hr-1 et offrant un excellent transfert de chaleur, un bon mélange avec un écoulement à caractère piston. Une méthodologie de passage au continu a été développée. Une étude préliminaire a notamment été menée en couplant rhéologie et spectroscopie Raman. Cela nous a permis d'acquérir des données pertinentes à petite échelle (étude rhéocinétique), données clés pour le passage au continu. Ce travail démontre la faisabilité de la production en continu de polymère d’acide acrylique. L’impact des différents paramètres tel que les concentrations en monomères et amorceur et la température a été étudié. Finalement, notre travail s’est attaché à caractériser les polymères produits en batch et en continu et à déterminer les avantages et les limitations offerts par le procédé continu / Water soluble polymers are typically produced batchwise in multi-product plants, providing the ability to produce a wide range of products. However, some limitations due to the use of batch reactor remain which are the variation of the quality of a synthetic polymer from one run to another run, a non-obvious scale-up step from the laboratory scale to the industrial production, and a technology with limited heat exchange . Dilute conditions are required which implies long cycle production times. A transition from discontinuous to continuous production could be a good alternative if it can accelerate the reaction time but also to ensure a consistent quality of polymer over time. This means in our case a polymer with a high molecular weight and a low polydispersity index. In the frame of the European project F3Factory, a continuous laboratory-scale pilot of 1 to 2kg.hr-1 flowrate for the production of water soluble polymers was designed. The chosen intensified reactor was a tubular reactor containing static mixers. Providing excellent heat transfer, a good mixing with a piston flow character, this technology was also flexible thanks to the presence of standardized flanges and well instrumented for data acquisition in terms of temperature, pressure but also conversion with in-line Raman analysis. Free radical polymerization of acrylic acid was carried out in a continuous way. Two main challenges were faced: an exothermic reaction coupled to a high viscosity. A methodology relative to the transposition from bath to continuous process was developed. A preliminary study coupling rheology and Raman spectroscopy allowed us to acquire relevant data at small-scale (rheokinetic study). This work demonstrates the feasibility of the continuous production of acrylic acid polymer. The impact of various parameters such as the concentrations of monomer and initiator and the temperature was investigated. Finally, our work has focused on characterizing the polymers produced in batch and continuous and to determine the advantages and limitations offered by the continuous process

La polymérisation amorcée sous rayonnement ionisant est un procédé hors-autoclave prometteur pour la fabrication de structures de matériaux composites à hautes performances. Les faisceaux d’électrons en particulier peuvent amorcer les processus de polymérisation radicalaire de monomères à base acrylate. Cependant, les matériaux composites obtenus présentent une faiblesse au niveau des propriétés transverses et en particulier dans le sens perpendiculaire aux fibres de carbone. L’objectif de ce projet de recherche vise à améliorer les performances transverses de ces composites par le biais d’une modification de la surface des fibres de carbone. Cet objectif doit être atteint en premier lieu par la réalisation d’une étude de l’influence de la chimie présente à la surface des fibres de carbone sur la polymérisation amorcée sous rayonnement ionisant des matrices de ces composites. Nous avons cherché à comprendre comment la polymérisation intervenant à l’interface fibre / matrice pouvait être influencée et ainsi proposer une solution de modification de surface permettant de diminuer ou de contrer les effets inhibiteurs identifiés et quantifiés. Ensuite, l’objectif doit être atteint par la formulation et la mise au point à l’échelle laboratoire et pré-industrielle de solutions d’ensimage de fibres de carbone afin de permettre l’amélioration de la qualité de l’interface fibre / matrice par la création d’une interphase chimique et en particulier par la création d’une chimie covalente. Nous avons mis au point deux familles de formulations d’ensimage dont une s’est avérée compatible avec les procédures industrielles de traitement d’ensimage sur fibre de carbone. Finalement, la mise en émulsion à base aqueuse de ces formulations a permis d’améliorer le niveau d’industrialisation de la solution de modification de surface et la réalisation de matériaux démonstrateurs a démontré l’amélioration des performances. / Polymerization under high energy radiation is a promising alternative to autoclave processing for manufacturing high-performance composite materials. Electron beam can initiate free radical polymerization processes of acrylate-based matrix. However, the comparison with state-of-the-art thermally cured composites reveals the lower transverse mechanical properties of radiation-cured composites. The aim of this project was to improve the transverse mechanical properties of these radiation-cured composites by a surface modification of carbon fiber. We have investigated several points related to these issues, and particularly we have inquired about the influence of the chemistry present at the surface of the carbon fiber on the polymerization step initiated under irradiation curing. We tried to have a better understand on their influence on the polymerization and on the curing process based on radiation-induced free radical chemistry. Then, the next step deals with the formulation of a surface modification treatment applied by sizing in order to improve the interface quality with the creation of an interphase and even better a covalent link between the fiber and the matrix. We worked on the compatibility of this formulation with the industrial process and we propose aqueous and non-aqueous-based emulsion processes to apply the surface treatment. Finally, demonstrator materials were manufactured and the mechanical properties in the fiber transverse direction were measured. The obtained results illustrate the efficiency of our surface modification solution on the mechanical performance of acrylate-based radiation cured composites.

Dans le cadre de la synthèse totale de la leucophyllidine, un alcaloïde bis-indolique, des réactions de carbo- et sulfonyl-cyanation radicalaires sans étain ont été développées. Les cyanures de sulfonyle RSO2CN, préparés à partir des thiocyanates correspondant par une nouvelle méthode d’oxydation, sont utilisés comme pièges radicalaires. Ces réactifs fragmentent en présence d’initiateur thermique (carbo-cyanation) ou par le biais de la catalyse photoredox (sulfonyl-cyanation). Dans ce dernier cas, une étude mécanistique approfondie sur le cycle photo-catalytique a été accomplie. Ces méthodologies introduisent un nitrile sur une chaîne carbonée insaturée par voie radicalaire, fournissant des intermédiaires avancés pour la synthèse totale d’alcaloïdes. Pour la synthèse asymétrique de l’eucophylline, le fragment sud de la leucophyllidine, la sulfonyl-cyanation de cyclobutènes énantioenrichis a montré d’excellentes diastéréosélectivités. Différentes stratégies d’ouverture de cycle ont ensuite été examinées. / During our efforts directed toward the total synthesis of leucophyllidine, a bis-indole alkaloid, the tin-free radical carbo-cyanation and sulfonyl-cyanation of olefins were developed. The sulfonyl cyanides, acting as radical traps, were synthesized through a new oxidation of the corresponding thiocyanate. These reagents were found to fragment under thermal initiation (carbo-cyanation) or using the photoredox catalysis (sulfonyl-cyanation). A thorough mechanistic study was accomplished for the sulfonyl-cyanation. These methodologies install a nitrile onto an olefin backbone, furnishing advanced intermediates for the total synthesis of alkaloids. For the asymmetric synthesis of eucophylline, the south fragment of leucophyllidine, the sulfonyl-cyanation of optically pure cyclobutenes showed excellent diastereoselectivities. Different ring-opening reactions of the corresponding cyclobutane were then examined.

The overall thrust of this dissertation is to gain a comprehensive understanding over the factors that govern the performance and behavior of ultra-thin, cross-linked polymer films. Poly(NIPAAm) was used as a model polymer to study volume phase transition in surface tethered networks. Poly(NIPAAm) undergoes a reversible phase transition at approximately 32°C between a swollen hydrophilic random coil to a collapsed hydrophobic globule state, thought to be caused by increased hydrophobic attractions between the isopropyl groups at elevated temperatures. We present a simple photochemical technique for fabricating structured polymer networks, enabling the construction of responsive surfaces with unique properties. The approach is based on the photo-cross-linking of copolymers synthesized from N-isopropylacrylamide and methacroyloxybenzophenone (MaBP). In order correlate layer swelling to the MaBP content, we have studied the swelling behavior of such layers in contact with aqueous solutions with neutron reflection. The cross-linked networks provide a three-dimensional scaffold to host a variety of functionalities. These networks serve as a platform which can be used to amplify small local perturbations induced by various stimuli like temperature, pH, solvent, ionic strength and peptide modified hydrogels to bring about a macroscopic change. Neutron reflection experiments have shown that the volume-phase transition of a surface-tethered, cross-linked poly(NIPAAm) network coincided with the two-phase region of uncross-linked poly(NIPAAm) in solution. Parallel measurements with ATR-FTIR investigating the effect of temperature, pH and salts suggest that the discontinuous transition is the result of cooperative dehydration of the isopropyl groups, with water remaining confined between amide groups in the collapsed state as weakly hydrogen bonded bridges. Hybrid polymers with specific peptide sequences have shown specific response to external cues such as pH and metal ions exhibiting unique phase behavior.