title: Self-assembled isoporous block copolymer membranes with tuned pore sizes.
abstract: The combination of nonsolvent-induced phase separation and the self-assembly of block copolymers can lead to asymmetric membranes with a thin highly ordered isoporous skin layer. The effective pore size of such membranes is usually larger than 15 nm. We reduced the pore size of these membranes by electroless gold deposition. We demonstrate that the pore sizes can be controlled precisely between 3 and 20 nm leading to a tunable sharp size discrimination in filtration processes. Besides fractionation of nanoparticles and biomaterials, controlled drug delivery is an attractive potential application.
authors: Advanced Membranes and Porous Materials Center, 4700 King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900 (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia).
authors: Haizhou
authors: H
authors: Yu
authors: Xiaoyan
authors: X
authors: Qiu
authors: Suzana P
authors: SP
authors: Nunes
authors: Klaus-Viktor
authors: KV
authors: Peinemann
keywords: block copolymers; drug release; gold deposition; membranes; self-assembly