Bioinspired gradient covalent organic framework membranes for ultrafast and asymmetric solvent transport

Zuo, Hongyu, Lyu, Baokang, Yao, Jiaao, Long, Wenhua, Shi, Yu, Li, Xinghao, Hu, Huawei, Thomas, Arne, Yuan, Jiayin, Hou, Bo ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9918-8223, Zhang, Weiyi and Liao, Yaozu 2024. Bioinspired gradient covalent organic framework membranes for ultrafast and asymmetric solvent transport. Advanced Materials 10.1002/adma.202305755 Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

Gradients played a pivotal role in membrane technologies, e.g., osmotic energy conversion, desalination, biomimetic actuation, selective separation and more. In these applications, the compositional gradients are of great relevance for successful function implementation, ranging from solvent separation to smart devices. However, the construction of functional gradient in membranes is still challenging both in scale and directions. Inspired by the specific function-related, graded porous structures in glomerular filtration membranes, we report here a general approach for constructing gradient covalent organic framework membranes (GCOMx) applying poly (ionic liquid)s as template. With graded distribution of highly porous COF crystals along the membrane, GCOMx exhibited an unprecedented asymmetric solvent transport when applying different membrane sides as the solvent feed surface during filtration, leading to a much-enhanced flux (10∼18 times) of the “large-to-small” pore flow comparing to the reverse direction, verified by hydromechanical theoretical calculations. Upon systematic experiments, GCOMx achieved superior permeance in nonpolar (hexane∼260.45 LMH bar−1) and polar (methanol∼175.93 LMH bar−1) solvents, together with narrow molecular weight cut-off (MWCO, 472 g mol−1) and molecular weight retention onset (MWRO, <182 g mol−1). Interestingly, GCOMx showed significant filtration performance in simulated kidney dialysis, revealing great potential of GCOMx in bionic applications.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Physics and Astronomy
Publisher:	Wiley
ISSN:	0935-9648
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	17 January 2024
Date of Acceptance:	16 January 2024
Last Modified:	04 Mar 2024 00:09
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/165565

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