Polyamide nanofiltration membrane with highly uniform sub-nanometre pores for sub-1 Å precision separation

By Yuanzhe Liang, Yuzhang Zhu, Cheng Liu, Kueir-Rarn Lee, W. Hung, Zhen-Yuan Wang, Youyong Li, Menachem Elimelech, Jian Jin, Shihong Lin. Nature Communications, 2020

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Separating molecules or ions with sub-Angstrom scale precision is important but technically challenging. Achieving such a precise separation using membranes requires Angstrom scale pores with a high level of pore size uniformity. Herein, we demonstrate that precise solute-solute separation can be achieved using polyamide membranes formed via surfactant-assembly regulated interfacial polymerization (SARIP). The dynamic, self-assembled network of surfactants facilitates faster and more homogeneous diffusion of amine monomers across the water/hexane interface during interfacial polymerization, thereby forming a polyamide active layer with more uniform sub-nanometre pores compared to those formed via conventional interfacial polymerization. The polyamide membrane formed by SARIP exhibits highly size-dependent sieving of solutes, yielding a step-wise transition from low rejection to near-perfect rejection over a solute size range smaller than half Angstrom. SARIP represents an approach for the scalable fabrication of ultra-selective membranes with uniform nanopores for precise separation of ions and small solutes. Separating molecules or ions with sub-Angstrom scale precision is important but technically challenging. Here, the authors demonstrate that precise solute-solute separation can be achieved using polyamide membranes formed via surfactant-assembly regulated interfacial polymerization.

Subfields: Biomedical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Water Science and Technology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/33b19cbcbf05f47843d894ce8ea204338e5d0b87