Design and fabrication of highly selective and permeable polymer membranes

Abstract

Selective polymer membranes are one of the most promising materials to achieve large-scale and energy-efficient mass separation and energy conversion. However, their performance is subject to the selectivity–permeability trade-off. To overcome this trade-off and achieve high-performance ion separation, it is essential to fabricate thin membranes with a high density of uniformly sized nanopores with the pore size at around 1 nm. However, it has been challenging to precisely control the pore size at about 1 nm. In this Tutorial, we outline the underlying mechanism for selective ion transport through nanopores, especially the emerging mechanism as the nanopore size is tuned around 1 nm. Then, we review the recent development of the main fabrication methods of selective polymer membranes from either the top–down approach or the bottom–up approach, especially the novel techniques generating uniformly sized nanopores with nanometric or even subnanometric size. Finally, we discuss the future development of the design and fabrication of the selective polymer membranes to fulfill their potential in real applications.

Molecular simulation study on permeation behavior of small molecules in graphyne/polypyrrole mixed matrix membrane

“…5,6 It is well known that gas separation or barrier performance can be tuned according to the characteristics of the membrane, the type of gas involved and mechanisms that control membrane transport. [7][8][9] It is necessary to study the influencing factors of gas adsorption and diffusion behavior of conductive polymer membrane for its application in separation membrane, barrier membrane, battery electrode coating material, and other fields. [10][11][12] In general, the experimental detection methods of membrane permeability require a large amount of time, and tedious testing can get the correlation coefficient of material permeability, but cannot get the comprehensive study statistics such as diffusion coefficient, solubility coefficient, and permeability coefficient.…”

“…It allows the conjugated polymer membrane to have a larger free volume with unique solubility and diffusivity of molecules 5,6 . It is well known that gas separation or barrier performance can be tuned according to the characteristics of the membrane, the type of gas involved and mechanisms that control membrane transport 7–9 . It is necessary to study the influencing factors of gas adsorption and diffusion behavior of conductive polymer membrane for its application in separation membrane, barrier membrane, battery electrode coating material, and other fields 10–12 …”

Fabrication of hydrophobic PLA filaments for additive manufacturing

“…Furthermore, the casting of polymer solutions and phase separation techniques use a combination of both top-down and bottom-up methods. Finally, all fabrication methods utilize hydrophobic material (e.g., silicone, polypropylene, carbon nanotube), hydrophobic modifying agents (e.g., fluoroalkyl-silane, alkyl-thiol, alkyl-dicarboxylic acid), and active substrates (e.g., polymer, metal, metallic oxide) [ 29 – 31 ].…”

Fabrication of solid-state nanopores

“…This review will detail the fabrication methods and features of various membranes, analyze the characteristics of different fabrication techniques to facilitate researchers to quickly select the nanopore materials, and preparation methods they need. Herein, we recommend some excellent recent reviews on the fabrication and application of nanopores since 2020 to the readers [3,28,[38][39][40][41][42][43][44]. [32,76], titanium oxide (TiO 2 ) [77], glass/quartz capillaries [78], etc.…”