Printing zwitterionic self-assembled thin film composite membranes: Tuning thickness leads to remarkable permeability for nanofiltration

Qian, Xin; Ravindran, Tulasi; Lounder, Samuel J.; Asatekin, Ayşe; McCutcheon, Jeffrey R.

doi:10.1016/j.memsci.2021.119428

Cited by 29 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…For instance, the use of ionic liquid additives in the coating solutions used to make r-ZAC membranes increased the permeance by up to 50 times without loss of selectivity . Electrospray coating the r-ZAC also led to significantly thinner selective layers and order-of-magnitude increases in water permeance . We expect that further development of the coating process will lead to further enhanced permeances, on par with commercial membranes.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…40 Electrospray coating the r-ZAC also led to significantly thinner selective layers and order-of-magnitude increases in water permeance. 41 We expect that further development of the coating process will lead to further enhanced permeances, on par with commercial membranes.…”

Section: ■ Results and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…40 Electrospraying the r-ZAC can also lead to major improvements in water permeance by forming thinner selective layers. 41 Such a processing improvement could potentially enable ZAC-X membranes to operate at lower pressure differences than commercial membranes. This effect is likely to be further compounded by the higher fouling resistance of ZAC-X, leading to significant energy and cost savings upon optimization of this membrane system.…”

Section: ■ Results and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Zwitterionic Ion-Selective Membranes with Tunable Subnanometer Pores and Excellent Fouling Resistance

Lounder

Asatekin

2021

Chem. Mater.

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Nanofiltration (NF) membranes are an energyefficient, scalable technology for water treatment and reuse. However, they are prone to fouling and offer limited selectivity between ions, hampering their use in water recovery and reuse. This work utilizes scalable self-assembly of zwitterionic copolymers combined with a novel cross-linking approach to develop membranes distinguished by exceptional mono/divalent ion selectivity, tunable pore size, and complete resistance to irreversible fouling. Extended cross-linking reduces the pore size to ∼0.9 nm, the smallest pore size reported for self-assembled copolymer membranes to date. These membranes achieve >99.2% SO 4 2− rejection and a Cl − /SO 4 2− selectivity of 101, demonstrating their promise for energy-efficient sulfate removal and other water treatment applications.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: ■ Results and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: ■ Results and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Zwitterionic Ion-Selective Membranes with Tunable Subnanometer Pores and Excellent Fouling Resistance

Lounder

Asatekin

2021

Chem. Mater.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This layer thickness could potentially be further decreased by improving the coating processes, resulting in higher membrane permeances by up to 50 times, as demonstrated with other ZAC membrane chemistries. [52,63] Membrane was immersed in TFE, a solvent that readily dissolves un-cross-linked P(AM-r-SBMA). The fact that the selective layer is visually unchanged shows that cross-linking improves the solvent stability of this layer.…”

Section: Membrane Fabrication and Cross-linkingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ultra‐Fast Click Modification of Self‐Assembled Zwitterionic Copolymer Membranes for Enhanced Ion Selectivity

Mondal

Lounder

Mazzaferro

et al. 2022

Adv Materials Inter

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Membranes that can separate small molecules and ions are of immense interest in various separations. Self‐assembling zwitterionic amphiphilic copolymers (ZACs) are extremely promising as exceptionally fouling‐resistant membrane selective layers with narrow size cut‐offs. However, it is difficult to tune their effective pore size within time frames compatible with roll‐to‐roll manufacturing. We report a novel, ultra‐fast approach for tuning the pore size of ZAC‐based membranes through thiol‐ene click chemistry that brings the needed post‐modification time from tens of minutes to only 10–40 s, making its integration feasible in large scale manufacturing systems. Resultant membranes have enhanced organic molecule and salt rejections, resulting in tunable mono‐/divalent ion selectivity. For instance, cross‐linking increases Na2SO4 rejections from <20% to up to 83%, while NaCl rejection remains below 30%. Furthermore, these membranes completely resist fouling by oil and proteins, outperforming commercial membranes. These results suggest that our cross‐linked membranes have the potential to be used in separations in the food industry, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and wastewater treatment.

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Hybrid Organic–Inorganic–Organic Isoporous Membranes with Tunable Pore Sizes and Functionalities for Molecular Separation

et al. 2021

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Accomplishing on‐demand molecular separation with a high selectivity and good permeability is very desirable for pollutant removal and chemical and pharmaceutical processing. The major challenge for sub‐10 nm filtration of particles and molecules is the fabrication of high‐performance membranes with tunable pore size and designed functionality. Here, a versatile top‐down approach is demonstrated to produce such a membrane using isoporous block copolymer membranes with well‐defined pore sizes combined with growth of metal oxide using sequential infiltration synthesis and atomic layer deposition (SIS and ALD). The pore size of the membranes is tuned by controlled metal oxide growth within and onto the polymer channels, enabling up to twofold pore diameter reduction. Following the growth, the distinct functionalities are readily incorporated along the membrane nanochannels with either hydrophobic, cationic, or anionic groups via straightforward and scalable gas/liquid–solid interface reactions. The hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity of the membrane nanochannel is significantly changed by the introduction of hydrophilic metal oxide and hydrophobic fluorinated groups. The functionalized membranes exhibit a superior selectivity and permeability in separating 1–2 nm organic molecules and fractionating similar‐sized proteins based on size, charge, and hydrophobicity. This demonstrates the great potential of organic–inorganic–organic isoporous membranes for high‐performance molecular separation in numerous applications.

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Printing zwitterionic self-assembled thin film composite membranes: Tuning thickness leads to remarkable permeability for nanofiltration

Cited by 29 publications

References 46 publications

Zwitterionic Ion-Selective Membranes with Tunable Subnanometer Pores and Excellent Fouling Resistance

Zwitterionic Ion-Selective Membranes with Tunable Subnanometer Pores and Excellent Fouling Resistance

Ultra‐Fast Click Modification of Self‐Assembled Zwitterionic Copolymer Membranes for Enhanced Ion Selectivity

Hybrid Organic–Inorganic–Organic Isoporous Membranes with Tunable Pore Sizes and Functionalities for Molecular Separation

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