Design and Preparation of a Novel Temperature-Responsive Ionic Gel. 3. Valence Selective Control of Transport Modes of Ions in Response to Temperature

Abstract

We propose a novel model dialysis system that can valence-selectively control the transport modes of ions in response to temperature change. In a dialysis system consisting of an anionic gel membrane and mixed solutions containing a driving electrolyte and electrolytes with uni-, bi-, and trivalent cations, the dependence of the charge density of the gel and the valence of the ions on the transport modes of the ions through the gel membrane was investigated by computer simulations. The simulations show that the system has four transport types in the transport modes of the cations according to their valence [downhill (transport along their own concentration gradient in the system) and uphill (transport against their own concentration gradient)] in response to the charge density changes: (A) downhill transport of all the cations; (B) uphill transport of trivalent cations, downhill transport of the other cations; (C) uphill transport of bi- and trivalent cations, downhill transport of univalent cations; and (D) uphill transport of all the cations except for the driving cations. To examine the prediction of the simulations, a temperature-responsive anionic gel membrane was prepared from a modified poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) containing 2 mol % of sulfonic acid groups and another modified PVA prepared by in situ polymerization of N-isopropylacrylamide in a PVA solution. Permeation experiments in a dialysis system consisting of the membrane and mixed electrolyte solutions of NaCl, LiCl, CaCl2, and LaCl3 indicate that the system valence-selectively controls the transport modes of the cations in response to temperature change as predicted in our simulations.