Self-organized liquid-crystalline nanostructured membranes for water treatment: selective permeation of ions.

A membrane with ordered 3D ionic nanochannels constructed by in situ photopolymerization of a thermotropic liquid-crystalline monomer shows high filtration performance and ion selectivity. The nanostructured membrane exhibits water-treatment performance superior to that of an amorphous membrane prepared from the isotropic melt of the monomer. Self-organized nanostructured membranes have great potential for supplying high-quality water.