A Covalent Organic Framework With Staggered Topology for Mimetic Transmembrane Transport of Hydrated Ions
- 1College of Materials Science and Engineering College of Polymer Science and Engineering State Key Laboratory of Advanced Polymer Materials Sichuan University Chengdu China
- 2Department of Materials Science and Engineering The Ångström Laboratory Uppsala University Uppsala Sweden
Abstract
In biological systems, hydrated‐ions cross protein channels with exceptional high efficiency through a structural dehydration‐compensation mechanism, where protein conformational adjustments contract the channel and enable electron‐rich sites to coordinate with ions, offsetting their dehydration energy without external energy input. In this work, we discovered that a typical β‐ketoenamine‐linked covalent organic framework (COF) with staggered‐stacking architectures exhibits a similar mechanism. Although COFs lack dynamic conformational adjustments, the AB‐staggered topology generates convergent channels enriched with carbonyl groups, which provide out‐sphere‐like multisite interactions with hydrated ions, partially compensating for the hydration dissociation energy and enabling rapid and efficient ion transport with low solvation. When employed as separators in aqueous zinc batteries, AB‐staggered COF membranes simultaneously suppress parasitic reactions and zinc dendrite formation. Zn anodes paired with these COF membranes exhibit markedly enhanced electrochemical cycling reversibility with stable Zn stripping/plating for over 5000 h in a conventional ZnSO4 electrolyte without any additives, outperforming most reported aqueous battery separators. This study identifies and experimentally validates rapid, low‐solvation hydrated‐ion transport in COFs via a biomimetic structural dehydration‐compensation mechanism, establishing a conceptual foundation for the rational design of high‐performance COF membranes in multiple fields, including but not limited to electrochemical energy storage, chemical separation, and catalytic systems.
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BibTeX
@article{li2026covalent,
title = {{A Covalent Organic Framework With Staggered Topology for Mimetic Transmembrane Transport of Hydrated Ions}},
author = {Xuan Li and Jiaxin Liu and Yilin Zhang and Zhixiang Dai and Zihan Tan and Hongli Yang and Chao Xu and Shengyang Zhou and Zhong‐Ming Li},
journal = {Advanced Science},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1002/advs.76918},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.76918},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - A Covalent Organic Framework With Staggered Topology for Mimetic Transmembrane Transport of Hydrated Ions
AU - Xuan Li
AU - Jiaxin Liu
AU - Yilin Zhang
AU - Zhixiang Dai
AU - Zihan Tan
AU - Hongli Yang
AU - Chao Xu
AU - Shengyang Zhou
AU - Zhong‐Ming Li
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/05
JO - Advanced Science
DO - 10.1002/advs.76918
UR - https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.76918
AB - In biological systems, hydrated‐ions cross protein channels with exceptional high efficiency through a structural dehydration‐compensation mechanism, where protein conformational adjustments contract the channel and enable electron‐rich sites to coordinate with ions, offsetting their dehydration energy without external energy input. In this work, we discovered that a typical β‐ketoenamine‐linked covalent organic framework (COF) with staggered‐stacking architectures exhibits a similar mechanism. Although COFs lack dynamic conformational adjustments, the AB‐staggered topology generates convergent channels enriched with carbonyl groups, which provide out‐sphere‐like multisite interactions with hydrated ions, partially compensating for the hydration dissociation energy and enabling rapid and efficient ion transport with low solvation. When employed as separators in aqueous zinc batteries, AB‐staggered COF membranes simultaneously suppress parasitic reactions and zinc dendrite formation. Zn anodes paired with these COF membranes exhibit markedly enhanced electrochemical cycling reversibility with stable Zn stripping/plating for over 5000 h in a conventional ZnSO4 electrolyte without any additives, outperforming most reported aqueous battery separators. This study identifies and experimentally validates rapid, low‐solvation hydrated‐ion transport in COFs via a biomimetic structural dehydration‐compensation mechanism, establishing a conceptual foundation for the rational design of high‐performance COF membranes in multiple fields, including but not limited to electrochemical energy storage, chemical separation, and catalytic systems.
SN - 2198-3844
ER -