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Rapid Fabrication by Lyotropic Self-Assembly of Thin Nanofiltration Membranes with Uniform 1 Nanometer Pores
- Source :
- ACS Nano; 20210101, Issue: Preprints
- Publication Year :
- 2021
-
Abstract
- Nanostructured materials with precisely defined and water-bicontinuous 1-nm-scale pores are highly sought after as advanced materials for next-generation nanofiltration membranes. While several self-assembled systems appear to satisfy this need, straightforward fabrication of such materials as submicron films with high-fidelity retention of their ordered nanostructure represents a nontrivial challenge. We report the development of a lyotropic liquid crystal mesophase that addresses the aforementioned issue. Films as thin as ∼200 nm are prepared on conventional support membranes using solution-based methods. Within these films, the system is composed of a hexagonally ordered array of ∼3 nm diameter cylinders of cross-linked polymer, embedded in an aqueous medium. The cylinders are uniformly oriented in the plane of the film, providing a transport-limiting dimension of ∼1 nm, associated with the space between the outer surfaces of nearest-neighbor cylinders. These membranes exhibit molecular weight cutoffs of ∼300 Da for organic solutes and are effective in rejecting dissolved salts, and in particular, divalent species, while exhibiting water permeabilities that rival or exceed current state-of-the-art commercial nanofiltration membranes. These materials have the ability to address a broad range of nanofiltration applications, while structure–property considerations suggest several avenues for potential performance improvements.
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 19360851 and 1936086X
- Issue :
- Preprints
- Database :
- Supplemental Index
- Journal :
- ACS Nano
- Publication Type :
- Periodical
- Accession number :
- ejs55586102
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.1c00722