title: Highly Sensitive CO₂-Responsive Polymeric Microgels That Respond Within Seconds.
abstract: In this work, polymeric microgels with swift response to CO2 are synthesized by polymerization of tertiary-amine containing methacrylate monomers (N,N-diethylaminoethyl methacrylate, DEAEMA) and polyethylene glycol monomethyl ether acrylate (PEGMA) as stabilizers. The obtained microgels are stable but very sensitive to CO2, which can rapidly swell and further collapse within 5 s upon bubbling of CO2, or within minutes in an atmosphere of gaseous CO2. The protonation of the tertiary amine groups in the presence of CO2 induces sensitive swelling and further irreversible collapse of the microgels due to the internal charge repulsion and relatively low cross-linking density in the core area of microgels. This rapid response to CO2 may find further applications in the fields of sensitive detection or responsive loading and release upon CO2 stimulus.
authors.affiliation: †School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Yiwen
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: †School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Tingting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: †School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Bingshen
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: ‡Bruker Nano Surface Business (Beijing Office), Beijing 100081, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Dengli
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.affiliation: †School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ma
mesh_terms: D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry*; D005782:Gels / Q000737:chemistry*; D008689:Methacrylates / Q000737:chemistry; D058105:Polymerization; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D005782:Gels; D008689:Methacrylates; D011108:Polymers; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; C519537:diethylaminoethyl methacrylate