A method
for creating genuine nanopores in high area density on
monolayer two-dimensional (2D) metallic oxides has been developed.
By use of the strong reduction capability of hydroiodic acid, active
metal ions, such as FeIII and CoIII, in 2D oxide
nanosheets can be reduced to a divalent charge state (2+). The selective
removal of FeO2 and CoO2 metal oxide units from
the framework can be tuned to produce pores in a range of 1–4
nm. By monitoring of the redox reaction kinetics, the pore area density
can be also tuned from ∼0.9 × 104 to ∼3.3
× 105 μm–2. The universality
of this method to produce much smaller pores and higher area density
than the previously reported ones has been proven in different oxide
nanosheets. To demonstrate their potential applications, ultrasmall
metal organic framework particles were grown inside the pores of perforated
titania oxide nanosheets. The optimized hybrid film showed ∼100%
rejection of methylene blue (MB) from the water. Its water permeance
reached 4260 L m–2 h–1 bar–1, which is 1–3 orders of that for reported
2D membranes with good MB rejections.
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