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Stimuli‐Responsive Porous Hydrogels at Interfaces for Molecular Filtration, Separation, Controlled Release, and Gating in Capsules and Membranes
Author(s) -
Tokarev Ihor,
Minko Sergiy
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
advanced materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.707
H-Index - 527
eISSN - 1521-4095
pISSN - 0935-9648
DOI - 10.1002/adma.201000165
Subject(s) - materials science , membrane , self healing hydrogels , gating , filtration (mathematics) , nanotechnology , porosity , swelling , porous medium , biomolecule , chemical engineering , composite material , biophysics , polymer chemistry , chemistry , biology , biochemistry , statistics , mathematics , engineering
Abstract A continuously growing area of controlled and tunable transport and separation of biomolecules and drugs has recently attracted attention to the structures which can be referred to as stimuli‐responsive porous hydrogel thin films . Because of spatial constraints, swelling/shrinking of the hydrogel films results in closing/opening (or vice versa) of the film's pores. Such responsive systems can be used in the configuration of plane films or capsules. The combination of a low thickness (translating into a low hydrodynamic flow resistance and rapid response) with well‐defined size and shape of pores (translating into better control of transport and separation), which can be closed, opened, or tuned by an external signal (allowing a large amplitude of changes in diffusivity of solutes in the thin film and a precise control of the pore size), makes these materials very attractive for a range of applications, such as molecular filtration, separation, drug delivery, sensors, and actuators.