Thermally responsive rigid polymer monoliths

A composite that changes its permeability with temperature –leading to the possibilites of a thermal gate, thermal valve, or thermal cotnrol of hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity–is reported. A method is described to modify the internal pore surface of rigid polymer moonoliths by grafting‐on PNIPAAm, a temperature‐responsive polymer. Isocratic hydrrophobic interaction chromatography of proteins is presented, which is a novel separation technique based on the changes in surface polarity (and thus adsorption) accompanying the temperature‐induced phase transition of the grafted PNIPAAm.