A new type of pH-responsive hydrogel surface with varying nanoparticle adsorptivities was fabricated to form a micro-patterned film. To increase its responsivity to environmental pH changes, we incorporated graphene oxide (GO) into a poly(methacrylic acid)-polyethylene glycol copolymer. Incorporating GO in the pH-responsive hydrogel significantly increased the adsorption-desorption responsivity of Ag nanoparticles on the gel surface. A pH oscillator in a closed reaction system composed of BrO3(-)-Fe(CN)6(4-)-SO3(2-) facilitated the self-oscillating adsorption-desorption of Ag nanoparticles on the GO-incorporated gel surface. The reversible adsorption-desorption of Ag nanoparticles on the patterned hydrogel surface in response to pH oscillations was determined using UV-visible spectroscopy in aqueous solution. The observed heterogeneous oscillations indicated that the adsorptivity of the gel surface can be reversibly changed on the patterned pH-responsive gel. This phenomenon is similar to various natural biological systems.

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Polypyrrole (PPy) nanocomposites with iron nanoparticles attached to 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid (AMP) were chemically prepared by varying the concentration of AMP using ammonium persulfate as an oxidant. The synthesized composites were characterized by using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and their surface morphology and amended crystallinity were determined by using the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), respectively. The electrical and magnetic properties of PPy-Fe-AMP composites were investigated at room temperature. The increase of AMP has brought out a significant increase of DC conductivity and magnetic saturation moment of the composites, which might have been caused by the increased mobility of charge carriers due to the hydrophilic AMP components. POLYM. COMPOS., 35:364-371, 2014.