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We synthesized the zwitterionic homopolymer polysulfobetaine (PBET), which shows upper critical solution temperature property, in order to investigate its feasibility as a draw solute for the forward osmosis (FO) process. The UCST property of the monomer sulfobetaine (BET) was not confirmed, while the UCST property of PBET was confirmed to be roughly 41°C. This result suggests that PBET can be recovered from aqueous solutions by cooling them to below the UCST. In an active layer facing feed solution (AL-FS) method containing 20 wt% PBET at 50°C, the water flux and reverse solute flux of PBET were found to be roughly 3.22 LMH and 0.36 gMH, respectively. This research provides a deep understanding of new ways of developing draw solutes, and could provide inspiration for the design and synthesis of thermo-responsive organic materials.
