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Updated: Sep 24, 2025

Electrophoretic Crystallization of Ultrathin High-performance Metal-organic Framework Membranes
Published on: August 16, 2018
Poly(ionic liquid)-Armored MXene Membrane: Interlayer Engineering for Facilitated Water Transport
Ming Yi1,2,3, Mi Wang4, Yan Wang1,2
1Key Laboratory of Material Chemistry for Energy Conversion and Storage, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, P. R. China.
Abstract:
Two-dimensional (2D) MXene-based lamellar membranes bearing interlayers of tunable hydrophilicity are promising for high-performance water purification. The current challenge lies in how to engineer the pore wall's surface properties in the subnano-confinement environment while ensuring its high selectivity. Herein, poly(ionic liquid)s, equipped with readily exchangeable counter anions, succeeded as a hydrophilicity modifier in addressing this issue. Lamellar membranes bearing nanochannels of tailorable hydrophilicity are constructed via assembly of poly(ionic liquid)-armored MXene nanosheets. By shifting the interlayer galleries from being hydrophilic to more hydrophobic via simple anion exchange, the MXene membrane performs drastically better for both the permeance (by two-fold improvement) and rejection (≈99 %). This facile method opens up a new avenue for building 2D material-based membranes of enhancing molecular transport and sieving effect.
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