Self-Assembled Asymmetric Block Copolymer Membranes: Bridging the Gap from Ultra- to Nanofiltration
Type
ArticleAuthors
Yu, HaizhouQiu, Xiaoyan
Moreno, Nicolas
Ma, Zengwei
Calo, Victor M.

Nunes, Suzana Pereira

Peinemann, Klaus-Viktor

KAUST Department
Advanced Membranes and Porous Materials Research CenterBiological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering (BESE) Division
Numerical Porous Media SRI Center (NumPor)
Earth Science and Engineering Program
Applied Mathematics and Computational Science Program
Date
2015-09-21Online Publication Date
2015-09-21Print Publication Date
2015-11-16Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/579566
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The self-assembly of block copolymers is an emerging strategy to produce isoporous ultrafiltration membranes. However, thus far, it has not been possible to bridge the gap from ultra- to nanofiltration and decrease the pore size of self-assembled block copolymer membranes to below 5 nm without post-treatment. It is now reported that the self-assembly of blends of two chemically interacting copolymers can lead to highly porous membranes with pore diameters as small as 1.5 nm. The membrane containing an ultraporous, 60 nm thin separation layer can fully reject solutes with molecular weights of 600 g mol−1 in aqueous solutions with a water flux that is more than one order of magnitude higher than the permeance of commercial nanofiltration membranes. Simulations of the membrane formation process by dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) were used to explain the dramatic observed pore size reduction combined with an increase in water flux.Citation
Self-Assembled Asymmetric Block Copolymer Membranes: Bridging the Gap from Ultra- to Nanofiltration 2015:n/a Angewandte ChemieJournal
Angewandte ChemieAdditional Links
http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/ange.201505663ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1002/ange.201505663