Thermo-responsive membranes fabricated by immobilization of microgels with enhanced gating coefficinent and reversible behavior

Thermo-responsive smart gating membranes have much potential applications in many fields, such as controlled release of drug, chemical/biological separation, sensors and water purification. In this study, a series of novel thermo-responsive membranes were fabricated through immobilization of thermo-responsive microgels into commercial microfiltration membranes via dynamic adsorption. The microgels were synthesized via precipitation polymerization of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAm), which can be reversibly expanded and shrunken upon the temperature change. This thermo-responsive behavior was preserved after incorporation of them into the membrane, indicating reversible water flux between the pore closure state at 25 degrees C and the pore opening state at 40 degrees C and high stimuli-responsive gating coefficient of 41 under narrow temperature range (25 degrees C-40 degrees C). More importantly, the resultant membrane exhibits good thermo-tunable separation performance for the polystyrene (PS) nanoparticles with different size, which has bright potential for the application in water gating and controlled release systems.

Automated summary

Thermo-responsive microgel membranes were fabricated and showed reversible water flux between 25°C and 40°C. These membranes exhibited good thermo-tunable separation performance for PS nanoparticles with different sizes.