Poly(ionic liquid) thermo-responsive hydrogel microfluidic actuators

In this study we report the synthesis, characterisation and performance of thermo-responsive crosslinked tributylhexyl phosphonium sulfopropylacrylate (PSPA) poly(ionic liquid) (PILc) hydrogels as temperature controlled actuators in microfluidic devices. The hydrogel size is modulated by localised changes in its temperature due to the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) behaviour exhibited by PSPA.