With recent advances in polymer chemistry, materials science, and nanotechnology, pH-responsive polymers have a significant impact in a number of diverse fields. Fundamental studies of these polymers are thus highly desirable as they may lead to new insights into the rational design of pH-responsive polymers with specific effects. In this Perspective, we focus on the nanobuffering of pH-responsive polymers (NBPRP). Although researchers have known of such buffering effects for more than a century, for example, in the context of the Henderson–Hasselbalch equation, modern synthesis and analysis routes now enable us to analyze these effects on the nanometer scale. In this way, the NBPRP phenomenon was explicitly defined and described by Gauthier and colleagues in the February issue of ACS Nano. Here, we highlight several potential areas in which the NBPRP could enable innovative classes of biological applications. We expect deeper mechanistic understanding of nanobuffering effects induced by pH-responsive polymers to have a significant impact on the future development and applications of these polymers.

中文翻译：

---

pH 响应聚合物的纳米缓冲：一种已知但有时被忽视的现象及其生物学应用。

随着高分子化学、材料科学和纳米技术的最新进展，pH 响应聚合物在许多不同领域产生了重大影响。因此，非常需要对这些聚合物进行基础研究，因为它们可能会为具有特定效果的 pH 响应聚合物的合理设计带来新的见解。在本篇文章中，我们重点关注 pH 响应聚合物 (NBPRP) 的纳米缓冲。尽管研究人员在一个多世纪前就知道这种缓冲效应，例如在亨德森-哈塞尔巴尔赫方程的背景下，现代合成和分析途径现在使我们能够在纳米尺度上分析这些效应。这样，NBPRP现象就被Gauthier及其同事在《ACS Nano》二月号上明确定义和描述了。在这里，我们重点介绍了 NBPRP 可以实现生物应用创新类别的几个潜在领域。我们期望对 pH 响应聚合物引起的纳米缓冲效应有更深入的机理理解，将对这些聚合物的未来开发和应用产生重大影响。