†Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States.
‡Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, United States.
Nano Lett. 2015 May 13;15(5):3254-60. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.5b00456. Epub 2015 Apr 27.
Monolayer nanoporous graphene represents an ideal membrane for molecular separations, but its practical realization is impeded by leakage through defects in the ultrathin graphene. Here, we report a multiscale leakage-sealing process that exploits the nonpolar nature and impermeability of pristine graphene to selectively block defects, resulting in a centimeter-scale membrane that can separate two fluid reservoirs by an atomically thin layer of graphene. After introducing subnanometer pores in graphene, the membrane exhibited rejection of multivalent ions and small molecules and water flux consistent with prior molecular dynamics simulations. The results indicate the feasibility of constructing defect-tolerant monolayer graphene membranes for nanofiltration, desalination, and other separation processes.
单层纳米多孔石墨烯是一种理想的分子分离膜，但由于超薄石墨烯中的缺陷，其实际应用受到阻碍。在这里，我们报告了一种多尺度的泄漏密封过程，该过程利用原始石墨烯的非极性和不可渗透性来选择性地封堵缺陷，从而得到了厘米级的膜，可以通过原子级薄的石墨烯层将两个流体储层隔开。在石墨烯中引入亚纳米孔后，该膜表现出对多价离子和小分子以及与先前分子动力学模拟一致的水通量的排斥性。结果表明，构建用于纳滤、海水淡化和其他分离过程的耐缺陷单层石墨烯膜是可行的。
