Liu Si-Hua, Zhou Jun-Hao, Wu Chunrui, Zhang Peng, Cao Xingzhong, Sun Jian-Ke
MOE Key Laboratory of Cluster Science, Beijing Key Laboratory of Photoelectronic/Electrophotonic Conversion Materials, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 102488, PR China.
State Key Laboratory of Separation Membranes and Membrane Processes, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tiangong University, Tianjin, 300387, PR China.
Nat Commun. 2024 Mar 20;15(1):2478. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-46809-4.
Biological cell membrane featuring smart mass-transport channels and sub-10 nm thickness was viewed as the benchmark inspiring the design of separation membranes; however, constructing highly connective and adaptive pore channels over large-area membranes less than 10 nm in thickness is still a huge challenge. Here, we report the design and fabrication of sub-8 nm networked cage nanofilms that comprise of tunable, responsive organic cage-based water channels via a free-interface-confined self-assembly and crosslinking strategy. These cage-bearing composite membranes display outstanding water permeability at the 10 cm s scale, which is 1-2 orders of magnitude higher than that of traditional polymeric membranes. Furthermore, the channel microenvironments including hydrophilicity and steric hindrance can be manipulated by a simple anion exchange strategy. In particular, through ionically associating light-responsive anions to cage windows, such 'smart' membrane can even perform graded molecular sieving. The emergence of these networked cage-nanofilms provides an avenue for developing bio-inspired ultrathin membranes toward smart separation.
具有智能传质通道且厚度小于10纳米的生物细胞膜被视为启发分离膜设计的基准；然而，在厚度小于10纳米的大面积膜上构建高度连通且适应性强的孔道仍然是一个巨大的挑战。在此，我们报告了通过自由界面受限自组装和交联策略设计和制造的亚8纳米网络笼状纳米膜，其由可调节、有响应的基于有机笼的水通道组成。这些含笼复合膜在10厘米/秒的尺度上表现出出色的水渗透性，比传统聚合物膜高1 - 2个数量级。此外，包括亲水性和空间位阻在内的通道微环境可以通过简单的阴离子交换策略进行调控。特别地，通过将光响应性阴离子离子缔合到笼窗口上，这种“智能”膜甚至可以进行分级分子筛分。这些网络笼状纳米膜的出现为开发受生物启发的超薄智能分离膜提供了一条途径。
