In this paper, we report on the comprehensive alcohol-/ion-responsive properties of a smart copolymer poly（N- isopropylacry]amide-co-benzo-18-crown-6-acrylamide） （P（NIPAM-co-BCAm））. The orthogonal design method is adopted for experimental design. The experimental results show that alcohol can trigger the shrinking and Ba2t can induce the swelling of the P（NIPAM-co-BCAm） copolymer. According to the phase transition tempera- ture （LCST） change results of the copolymer, the influence of variables on the LCST changes weakens in the following order： alcohol concentration 〉 alcohol species 〉 metal ion species 〉 BCAm concentration 〉 ion concentration. The larger the alcohol concentration and the larger the molecular size of alcohols, the lower the LCST value; on the contrary, the more the BCAm content in the copolymer or the larger the BCAm/ion complex stability constant （IgK） or the larger the ion concentration is, the higher the LCST value. For a P（NIPAM-co-BCAm ） copolymer with a fixed BCAm content, a binary function of ion concentration and IgK of BCAm/ion is developed to precisely predict the LCST values of the copolymer in different metal ion solutions. The results provide valuable information for fabricating artificial biomimetic G-protein-gated inwardly rectifying potassium （GIRK） channels that are activated by alcohol and inhibited by Ba2＋.
Temperature-responsive poly（N-isopropylacrylamide） （PNIPAM） hydrogel microspheres have attracted extensive attention because of their promising diverse biomedical applications. A quantitative understanding of the micromechanical properties of these microspheres is essential for their practical application. Here, we report a simple method for the characterization of the elastic properties of PNIPAM hydrogel microspheres. The results show that PNIPAM hydrogel microspheres exhibit elastic deformation and the obtained force-deformation experimental data fits the Hertz theory well. The moduli of elasticity of the PNIPAM hydrogel microspheres prepared under different conditions were systematically investigated in this work for the first time. The PN1PAM hydrogel microsphere composition significantly affects their micromechanical properties and their temperature sensitivity behavior. PNIPAM hydrogel microspheres with a larger equilibrium volume change have a lower modulus of elasticity. The modulus of elasticity of the PNIPAM hydrogel microspheres at body temperature （37 ℃, above the lower critical solution temperature （LCST） of PNIPAM） is much higher than that at room temperature （25 ℃, below the LCST of PNIPAM） because ofthermo-induced volume shrinkage and an increase in stiffness. These results provide valuable guidance for the design of smart materials for practical biomedical applications. Moreover, the simple microcompression method presented here also provides a versatile way to investigate the micromechanical properties of microscopic biomedical materials.
