Hyper-crosslinked Isoporous Block Copolymer Membranes with Robust Solvent Resistance and Customized Pore Sizes for...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Polymer Chemistry
• Separation Science

Background:

• Isoporous block copolymer membranes offer precise separation capabilities but suffer from poor solvent resistance, limiting their use.
• Developing solvent-resistant isoporous membranes with tunable pore sizes remains a significant challenge in separation technology.

Purpose of the Study:

• To prepare self-supporting isoporous membranes with enhanced solvent resistance and tunable pore sizes.
• To demonstrate the universality and non-destructive nature of the hyper-crosslinking approach for membrane modification.

Main Methods:

• A facile and robust hyper-crosslinking approach was employed to create a rigid network within isoporous membranes.
• The hyper-crosslinking process was optimized to preserve the original pore size and isoporous structure.

Main Results:

• The resulting hyper-crosslinked isoporous membranes exhibited excellent structural and separation stability across a wide range of solvents.
• The membranes demonstrated long-term stability (months to years) in various organic solvents.
• Hyper-crosslinking proved to be a versatile strategy applicable to membranes with diverse pore sizes and chemistries.

Conclusions:

• Hyper-crosslinking is a novel, non-destructive method for enhancing the solvent resistance of isoporous membranes.
• This approach enables the preparation of customizable, solvent-resistant isoporous membranes for accurate separations in organic solvents.
• The study successfully demonstrated precise nanoparticle separation using the developed membranes, highlighting their practical applicability.