Developing advanced filtration membrane with high flux, good solute rejection and excellent antifouling performance is highly demanded. Hydrophilic graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets are attractive fillers for the preparation of composite membranes for water purification. However, strategies that can fully exploit the advantages and remedy the drawbacks of GO nanosheets are still needed. In this work, UiO-66 was specifically anchored to the GO layers as a porous modifier. The incorporated UiO-66 can effectively prevent the GO layers from stacking and introduce unique properties into the composite (UiO-66@GO). A series of novel composite membranes were prepared with the obtained UiO-66@GO composite and polyethersulfone (PES). As a result, the prepared composite membranes

Gas permeability and selectivity for CO2/N2 separation were improved simultaneously in mixed-matrix membranes formed by a nanoporous metal–organic framework with a task-specific ionic liquid in PIM-1.

Preserving the structural and functional integrity of interfaces and inhibiting deleterious chemical interactions are critical for realizing devices with sub-50 nm thin films and nanoscale units. Here, we demonstrate that ∼0.7-nm-thick self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) comprising mercapto-propyl-tri-methoxy-silane (MPTMS) molecules enhance adhesion and inhibit Cu diffusion at Cu/SiO2 structures used in device metallization. Cu/SAM/SiO2/Si(001) structures show three times higher interface debond energy compared to Cu/SiO2 interfaces due to a strong chemical interaction between Cu and S termini of the MPTMS SAMs. This interaction immobilizes Cu at the Cu/SAM interface and results in a factor-of-4 increase in Cu-diffusion-induced failure times compared with that for structures without SAMs.

Preparation of defect‐free and optimized thin film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes is an effective way to enhance the process of organic solvent nanofiltration. However, it still remains a great challenge due to poor filler particle dispersibility in organic phase and compatible issue between fillers and polymers. Aiming at these difficulties, UiO‐66‐NH2 nanoparticles were surface modified with long alkyl chains and used in the preparation of TFN membranes. As a result, defect‐free TFN membranes with ultrathin MOF@polyamide layer were successfully prepared benefited from the improved particle dispersibility in n‐hexane. Significant enhancement was found in methanol permeance after nanoparticle incorporation, without comprising the tetracycline rejection evidently. Especially, the novel TFN membrane prepared with organic phase solution containing 0.15% (w/v) modified UiO‐66‐NH2 nanoparticles showed a superior methanol permeance of 20 L·m−2·h−1·bar−1 and a tetracycline rejection of about 99%, which is appealing to the application in pharmaceutical industry for example. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 63: 1303–1312, 2017

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