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Updated: Jun 7, 2026

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Encapsulation and Permeability Characteristics of Plasma Polymerized Hollow Particles
Published on: August 16, 2012
Cyclodextrin-Derived Porous Liquids Enabled by In Situ Solvation Shell Formation
Errui Li1,2, Anton S Pozdeev3, Arvind Ganesan1
1Chemical Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, United States.
Journal of the American Chemical Society
|June 6, 2026
Summary
Researchers developed new porous liquids (PLs) using cyclodextrins (CDs) and an ionic solvation shell. This breakthrough stabilizes sub-5 Å pores for advanced molecular separations, enhancing gas uptake and fluorinated alkane encapsulation.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Supramolecular Chemistry
- Nanotechnology
Background:
- Porous liquids (PLs) offer unique capabilities for molecular separations due to their combined porosity and liquid mobility.
- Stabilizing PLs with sub-5 Å pores using common materials remains a significant challenge.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a facile and generalizable strategy for constructing stable porous liquids with engineered ultramicroporosity.
- To investigate the structural properties and separation capabilities of novel cyclodextrin-derived porous liquids.
Main Methods:
- In situ solvation shell formation via acid-base neutralization between cyclodextrins (CDs) and an organic base.
- Spectroscopic analysis, neutron scattering, density functional theory (DFT) calculations, and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations.
- Evaluation of separation performance for fluorinated alkanes and inert gases.
Main Results:
- Successfully constructed cyclodextrin-derived porous liquids (CD-PLs) stabilized by in situ generated ionic solvation shells.
- Confirmed the presence of abundant internal porosity and structural integrity of the CD-PLs through combined experimental and computational analyses.
- Demonstrated highly selective encapsulation of fluorinated alkanes and significantly enhanced uptake of inert gases.
Conclusions:
- The developed strategy provides a robust method for creating high-quality porous liquids with tunable ultramicroporosity.
- These CD-derived PLs show great promise for advanced molecular separation applications, particularly for fluorinated compounds and gases.
- The in situ solvation shell formation approach is generalizable for constructing various porous liquid systems.
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