A Study of HCl Gas Adsorption/Desorption Properties of PNIPAM Brushes

In this paper, we employ a molecular theory to study HCl gas‐adsorption/desorption properties of PNIPAM brushes. Here, PNIPAM–HCl hydrogen bonds and theirs explicit coupling to the PNIPAM conformations are considered. We find that hydrogen bonding becomes a key element in determining HCl gas‐adsorption/desorption behaviors of PNIPAM brushes. Our results indicate that, when at moderate grafting densities, the association of PNIPAM–HCl hydrogen bonds can result in a dependence of PNIPAM brush‐height on HCl concentration, and the morphology of PNIPAM brushes may have a significant effect on the HCl gas‐adsorption/desorption properties. HCl gas adsorption capacity of poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) brushes is described by PNIPAM–HCl hydrogen bonds. Hydrogen bonding becomes a key element in determining HCl adsorption/desorption behaviors of PNIPAM brushes. The morphology of PNIPAM brushes may have a significant effect on the HCl adsorption/desorption properties.