title: Thin Polymer Films with Continuous Vertically Aligned 1 nm Pores Fabricated by Soft Confinement.
abstract: Membrane separations are critically important in areas ranging from health care and analytical chemistry to bioprocessing and water purification. An ideal nanoporous membrane would consist of a thin film with physically continuous and vertically aligned nanopores and would display a narrow distribution of pore sizes. However, the current state of the art departs considerably from this ideal and is beset by intrinsic trade-offs between permeability and selectivity. We demonstrate an effective and scalable method to fabricate polymer films with ideal membrane morphologies consisting of submicron thickness films with physically continuous and vertically aligned 1 nm pores. The approach is based on soft confinement to control the orientation of a cross-linkable mesophase in which the pores are produced by self-assembly. The scalability, exceptional ease of fabrication, and potential to create a new class of nanofiltration membranes stand out as compelling aspects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Yale University , New Haven, Connecticut 06511, United States.
authors.forename: Xunda
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Yale University , New Haven, Connecticut 06511, United States.
authors.forename: Siamak
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nejati
authors.forename: Matthew G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Cowan
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Yale University , New Haven, Connecticut 06511, United States.
authors.forename: Marissa E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Tousley
authors.forename: Brian R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Wiesenauer
authors.forename: Richard D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Noble
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Yale University , New Haven, Connecticut 06511, United States.
authors.forename: Menachem
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Elimelech
authors.forename: Douglas L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Gin
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Yale University , New Haven, Connecticut 06511, United States.
authors.forename: Chinedum O
authors.initials: CO
authors.lastname: Osuji
keywords: membrane separation; soft confinement; thin film