Engineered Asymmetric Composite Membranes with Rectifying Properties

Abstract

Asymmetric composite membranes with rectifying properties are developed by grafting pH-stimulus-responsive materials onto the top layer of the composite structure, which is prepared by two novel block copolymers using a phase-separation technique. This engineered asymmetric composite membrane shows potential applications in sensors, filtration, and nanofluidic devices.

In-plane oriented highly ordered lamellar structure formation of poly(N-dodecylacrylamide) induced by humid annealing

“…22 Moreover, a block copolymer of the liquid crystal (LC) polymer with poly ethylene glycol (PEO) form a lm with uniform straight molecular channels of PEO units, which was applied as an ion conductive channels. [30][31][32] Our present results proposed the simple strategy to prepare a highly oriented polymer lamella structure without particular thermotropic LC structures. The oriented lamellar lm was constructed from a simple amorphous pDDA with a exible side chain by annealing in humid conditions.…”

A Review of Nanostructured Ion‐Exchange Membranes

“…[88] Several other well-established methods such as phase separation and suction filtration have also been adopted, particularly for block copolymers and inorganic materials to develop nanostructured membranes with composite nanochannels. [104] The 2D materials with the capability to transport ions, including graphene, [105] vermiculite, [106] and silicates [107] are used to fabricate a broad range of complex composite nanostructures. [106] Although a lot of research has been done in this area.…”

Bioinspired nanochannels based on polymeric membranes

“…Moreover, the pH response of the nanochannel disappears with increasing salt concentration. Further, significant results have also been achieved in the domain of pH responsive nanochannels using BCPs [87,95,134,152,153]. Zhang et al [134] combined asymmetric BCP and porous anodic aluminum oxide to prepare a multifunctional heterogeneous membrane, showing an obvious pH response.…”