Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-gelatin hydrogel membranes with thermo-tunable pores for water flux gating and protein separation

Herein, a hybrid hydrogel was prepared by polymerizing N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm) in the presence of gelatin and mixed with 300 nm polystyrene nanospheres (PNs) to cross-link the gelatin. A thermo-responsive polyNIPAAm(PNIPAAm)-gelatin hybrid hydrogel (NGHH) membrane was obtained after removing the lodged PNs from the NGHH. At the PNIPAAm-to-gelatin content ratio of 1, PNIPAAm in the NGHH membrane extended to completely occupy the pores left...