Thermoresponsive Smart Gating Wood Membranes
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Date
2022-05-02
Publication Type
Journal Article
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yes
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Abstract
Smart membranes that can open and/or close their pores in a controlled manner by external stimuli possess potential in various applications, such as water flow manipulation, indoor climate regulation, and sensing. The design of smart gating membranes with high flux, immediate response, and mechanical robustness is still an open challenge, limiting their versatility and practical applicability. Inspired by the controlled opening and closure of plant stomata, we have developed a smart gating wood membrane, taking advantage of the unique wood scaffold with its hierarchical porous structure to carry thermoresponsive hydrogel gates. Laser drilling was applied to cut channels in the wood scaffold with well-aligned pores to incorporate the smart gating membranes. In situ polymerization of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) above its lower critical solution temperature inside the channels resulted in a hydrogel with a heterogeneous microstructure acting as a thermoresponsive gate. The wood-based smart gating membranes exhibited reversible and stable pore opening/closing under heating/cooling stimuli. The achieved rapid response and feasibility of scale-up open the venue for various practical applications. In this work, we demonstrated their potential for indoor light regulation and as a water flow manipulator.
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Publication status
published
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Book title
Journal / series
ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering
Volume
10 (17)
Pages / Article No.
5517 - 5525
Publisher
American Chemical Society
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Edition / version
Methods
Software
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Date collected
Date created
Subject
smart gating membrane; stimuli responsive; wood; hydrogel; bioinspired; biobased composites
Organisational unit
03917 - Burgert, Ingo / Burgert, Ingo
Notes
Funding
184821 - Hierarchical cellulose scaffolds for structural and functional gradient materials (SNF)