Polymeric materials as building blocks represent the most important membrane materials as they are relatively simple to synthesize and flexible regarding manufacturing conditions. In this contribution, the synthesis of amphiphilic diblock terpolymers and their use for the preparation of integral asymmetric membranes via nonsolvent induced phase separation (NIPS) processes is presented. The diblock terpolymers consist of a hydrophobic poly(styrene‐co‐isoprene) block and a hydrophilic segment of poly(N,N‐dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate). The materials are synthesized either via nitroxide mediated polymerization or living anionic polymerization. The NIPS process is used for the fabrication of porous diblock terpolymer membranes where the membrane morphology can be influenced by several parameters such as the applied solvent mixture, open time, or relative humidity. The resulting anisotropic membranes are characterized by scanning electron microscopy and water flux measurements. Furthermore, the UV‐induced crosslinking of the isoprene part of the membrane matrix is demonstrated.

The immobilization of homogeneous catalysts within nanoporous membranes gives access to catalytically active and multi-functional composite materials, e.g. for use in flow reactors.

We report on the synthesis of thiol-terminated, polyether-based block copolymers featuring a crosslinkable block and their use as ligands for Au-nanoparticles in organic solvents.

Stimuli-responsive surfaces are of practical importance for applications ranging from enhanced mixing of reagents in lab-on-a-chip systems until probing cellular traction forces. Non-destructive reversible bending of cilia-inspired magnetic pillars can be used for controlled transportation of non-magnetic objects and bio-inspired sensing. Magnetic actuation of micropillars suspended in liquids allows controlled mixing, propelling, and stirring of fluids as well as droplet manipulation, which are important for various applications including generation of cell spheroids and droplet coalescence in microfluidic systems. In order to expand their practical applications, fabrication processes capable of rapid prototyping have to be developed. Inspired by biological cilia and their functionalities, actuating hairy surfaces are herein fabricated and implemented to manipulate both microbeads and droplets. The artificial cilia are based on microscale magnetic pillar arrays made of flexible polydimethylsiloxane functionalized with magnetic microparticles. The arrays are fabricated by a new method using patterned molds that relies on cryogenic separation to produce transparent cilia-inspired arrays without requiring manual interference to clean the templates during the process. Magnetic actuation of the pillar arrays is demonstrated in isopropanol and silicone oil. Filling with oil yields magnetically responsive slippery lubricated surfaces allowing directional motion of droplets by repetitive bending and recovery of the flexible magnetic pillars. The achieved structures allow manipulation of microbeads and droplets which is uncommon even at the sub-mm scale; directional motion is demonstrated for 250 μm–550 μm sized droplets. Droplet transportation is facilitated by extremely low hysteresis and a high degree of omnidirectional bending of the pillar array.