Thermo-Responsive Porous Membranes of Controllable Porous Morphology from Triblock Copolymers of Polycaprolactone and Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)Prepared by Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization

摘要

Stimuli-responsive polymers are of crucial importance in the design of smart biomaterials.The thermo-responsive triblock copolymers of polycaprolactone(PCL)and poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)(P(NIPAAm)),or P(NIPAAm)-b-PCL-b-P(NIPAAm)copolymers,were synthesized in this work via atom transfer radical polymerization(ATRP).The P(NIPAAm)-b-PCL-b-P(MPAAm)copolymers were cast by phase inversion in water into porous membranes with well-defined and uniformly distributed pores.The P(NTPAAm)content in the P(NIPAAm)-b-PCL-Z)-P(NIPAAm)copolymers and the temperature of the aqueous medium for phase inversion could be used to control the pore size and porosity of the membranes.The thermo-responsive characteristics of the membranes were illustrated in the controlled water uptake and temperature-dependent glucose transport through the membranes.These temperature-sensitive membranes with controllable morphology have potential applications in biomedical engineering,drug delivery,and tissue engineering.