Herein we describe the design and the assembly of temperature sensitive polysulfone (PS)/polyacrylonitrile (PAN) blend membranes using supercritical fluid technology. Blended membranes were prepared using the CO2-assisted phase inversion method, and their pores were coated with two thermoresponsive hydrogels-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) and poly(N,N′-diethylacrylamide) (PDEAAm). Permeation experiments of bovine serum albumin (BSA) and lysozyme (LYS) solutions were used to evaluate the performance and temperature-responsive behavior of coated membranes. While membranes coated with PNIPAAm presented similar protein permeation profiles at temperatures below and above its lower critical solution temperature, PDEAAm coating imparted a temperature-responsive behavior to PS/PAN (90:10) membranes and selective permeation of proteins with different sizes. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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