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Novel Salt-Responsive SiO2@Cellulose Membranes Promote Continuous Gradient and Adjustable Transport Efficiency
Xiaoyu Wang1, Dong Zhang2, Jiahui Wu1
1College of Materials Science & Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, PR China.
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
|August 25, 2020
Summary
This study introduces novel salt-responsive membranes (SRMs) for tunable molecule transport. These membranes offer adjustable filtration and separation, moving beyond simple on-off switches for enhanced performance.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Chemical Engineering
- Nanotechnology
Background:
- Traditional stimuli-responsive membranes lack gradual control over filtration efficiency.
- Existing "on-off" membranes exhibit limited feedback, hindering tunable transport and separation.
- There is a need for advanced membranes with controllable and gradient feedback mechanisms.
Purpose of the Study:
- To design and fabricate robust salt-responsive membranes (SRMs) with tunable transport and separation capabilities.
- To investigate the salt-responsive mechanism based on SiO2@cellulose and polyDVBAPS nanoparticles.
- To demonstrate the gradient feedback, high efficiency, and reusability of the developed SRMs.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of SiO2@cellulose membranes modified with salt-responsive polyDVBAPS nanoparticles via negative-pressure filtering.
- Utilizing the antipolyelectrolyte effect of polyDVBAPS for channel aperture and surface wettability control.
- Testing macromolecule and oil/saline separation efficiencies and evaluating membrane reusability.
Main Results:
- Developed SRMs exhibit a linear salt-responsive feedback mechanism for tunable permeability.
- Achieved high target macromolecule separation (>75%) and rapid oil/saline separation (>97%).
- Demonstrated unprecedented repeatability and reusability, even after long-term cyclic testing.
Conclusions:
- The developed SRMs offer a controllable gradient permeability and high gating ratio, surpassing traditional "on-off" membranes.
- The strategy provides a potentially exciting approach for efficient and controllable osmotic transportation and molecule separation.
- SRMs exhibit superfast response times and excellent reusability, making them suitable for advanced separation applications.
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