A smart thermo- and pH-responsive microfiltration membrane based on three-dimensional inverse colloidal crystals

In this paper, a thermo- and pH-responsive microfiltration membrane was prepared based on three-dimensional (3D) inverse colloidal crystals (ICC). To manufacture the smart ICC membrane, the typical thermo-responsive N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) and pH-responsive methacrylic acid (MAA) were polymerized inside silica colloidal crystals. The smart ICC membranes were characterized by SEM, IR and contact angle measurements. Moreover, the permeability of smart microfiltration membrane was carried out by the KCl diffusion tests. The result showed that effective diameter of the polymer ICC membrane can be reversible tuned by temperature and pH. Besides, the functional ICC membrane showed outstanding temperature- and pH-responsive gating property, which was applied to separate particles of different sizes. The savvy environment-responsive gating membranes have potential uses in filtration, separation, purification, sensor and other applications.