Nonlinear changes in pore size induced by temperature in the design of smart membranes

A new kind of synthetic membranes prepared by crosslinking of two different organic polymers was designed, the membranes has the ability to adjust the pore diameter in a wide range of sizes (from 3 to 100 microns) just by changing the time of thermal treatment in an aqueous media at constant temperature where they are immersed; in this way it is possible to control externally the pore size of the membrane. A nonlinear mathematical model, on the basis of the overlap of the electrical double layers of charged particles, was developed to explain the oscillatory behavior of the pore size when the time of thermal treatment was varied. The model deduced fits correctly to the experimental results and describes the oscillatory behavior of the pore size. Polymer Journal (2010) 42, 947-951; doi: 10.1038/pj.2010.88; published online 13 October 2010