Porous Membranes with Special Wettabilities: Designed Fabrication and Emerging Application

Abstract

Porous materials have become a burgeoning research interest in materials science because of their intrinsic porous characteristics, versatile chemical compositions, and abundant functionalities. Recently, inspired by natural superwetting surfaces originating from the cooperation of surface energy and surface geometry, porous membranes with special wettabilities are finding emerging opportunities associated with a wide variety of environmental and energy-related applications. This review will present an overview of the state-of-the-art research on the designed fabrications and applications of superwetting porous membranes based on zeolites, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), porous organic materials (POMs), and mesoporous materials. General synthetic strategies for the fabrication of porous membranes (e.g., hydrothermal/solvothermal crystallization, interfacial polymerization, electrospinning, etc.), and principles for tuning the wettability of porous membranes through surface energy modulation are introduced. Furthermore, their emerging applications as oil-water separation membranes, lithium-ionbattery separators, self-cleaning layers, and anticorrosion coatings are demonstrated. Finally, we emphasize on future perspectives regarding the development of superwetting porous membranes for practical applications.

Energy Transfer in Metal–Organic Frameworks for Fluorescence Sensing

“…MOFs synthesized via traditional techniques usually lead to the formation of fine powders or tiny particles/crystals with nonthermoplastic properties, insolubility, and difficulty in molding. − Thus, processing MOF nanocrystals into specific polymer matrices that are robust and exhibit operational flexibility is highly desired. Such technology not only preserves the individual advantages of MOFs but also overcomes their drawbacks, which greatly expands their practical applications. ,,,− …”

Interzeolite Conversion-Synthesized Sub-1 μm NaA Zeolite Membrane for C2H2/C2H4 Selective Separation

“…As known, the permeation rate is determined by small-pore zeolites. 41,42 Therefore, a thinning NaA layer of the NaA−NaX membrane (thickness: 0.5 μm for NaA−NaX in Figure 1d, 5 μm for NaA in Figure S4) can accelerate the transport of C 2 H 2 across the membrane with less resistance, which explains the increase of gas permeance. The C 2 H 2 /C 2 H 4 ideal SF for NaA−NaX is increased to 3.2, which is 2.7-and 2.1-fold higher than those for NaX and NaA, respectively.…”

Bioinspired Robust Water Repellency in High Humidity by Micro-meter-Scaled Conical Fibers: Toward a Long-Time Underwater Aerobic Reaction

“…Superhydrophobic surfaces, well known for their good water repellency, have been witnessed in many natural organisms − and have been widely used in various fields due to the outstanding performances in self-cleaning, anti-icing, drag reduction, electro-catalysts, and so forth. − Nonpolar superhydrophobic surfaces are generally textured with monotonic nanostructures or micro-/nano-composites for minimizing the liquid–solid contact area. − However, such highly textured surfaces have suffered from being frequently penetrated by micro-/nano-scale tiny dews because of the comparable dimensions. − Consequently, the water repellency is severely impaired, which makes the superhydrophobicity hardly survive in high-humid environments. − So far, robust water repellency in high humidity remains a challenge.…”