Molecular‐Level Pore Engineering for Precise Separation via Active Solvent‐Mediated Interfacial Polymerization
- 1National Engineering Research Center of Industrial Wastewater Detoxication and Resource Recovery Research Center for Eco‐Environmental Sciences Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing People's Republic of China
- 2University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing People's Republic of China
- 3Department of Chemistry University of Peradeniya Peradeniya Sri Lanka
Abstract
Polymer membranes typically face various selectivity demands in practical separations. Tuning the selectivity largely relies on regulating the pore size and distribution in membranes without disrupting the integrity of the polymer network. While monomer design or additive incorporation shows advances in pore tuning, homogeneous sub‐nanometer pore tuning in polymer matrix remains challenging as traditional solvents act solely as diffusive media, leading to uncontrolled polymerization. Here, we report an active solvent‐mediated interfacial polymerization strategy that enables molecular‐level pore engineering of membrane selective layer. By utilizing the microemulsion, a special solvent, we show that ∼1 nm microemulsions induces localized quasi‐homogeneous polymerization, templating molecular‐level pores within the polyamide network. The resulting membranes exhibit excellent water permeance of 58.7 L m−2 h−1 bar−1 with NaCl‐Na2SO4 selectivity vs. water permeance surpasses the current upper bond. The strategy also works for hollow fiber membranes which show no performance decline even scaling up to 1‐inch modules. Positron annihilation spectroscopy, small‐angle x‐ray scatterings, molecular dynamics, CFD and other experimental results reveal that patterned surface, enhanced free volume and narrower pore size contribute to the enhanced performance. This active solvent‐mediated strategy provides a versatile and scalable method for enhancing membrane performance across water treatment and chemical separations.
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BibTeX
@article{li2026molecularlevel,
title = {{Molecular‐Level Pore Engineering for Precise Separation via Active Solvent‐Mediated Interfacial Polymerization}},
author = {Feng Li and R. M. G. Rajapakse and Yuxin Mou and Deyin Hou and Min Yang},
journal = {Advanced Science},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1002/advs.77014},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.77014},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Molecular‐Level Pore Engineering for Precise Separation via Active Solvent‐Mediated Interfacial Polymerization
AU - Feng Li
AU - R. M. G. Rajapakse
AU - Yuxin Mou
AU - Deyin Hou
AU - Min Yang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/05
JO - Advanced Science
DO - 10.1002/advs.77014
UR - https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.77014
AB - Polymer membranes typically face various selectivity demands in practical separations. Tuning the selectivity largely relies on regulating the pore size and distribution in membranes without disrupting the integrity of the polymer network. While monomer design or additive incorporation shows advances in pore tuning, homogeneous sub‐nanometer pore tuning in polymer matrix remains challenging as traditional solvents act solely as diffusive media, leading to uncontrolled polymerization. Here, we report an active solvent‐mediated interfacial polymerization strategy that enables molecular‐level pore engineering of membrane selective layer. By utilizing the microemulsion, a special solvent, we show that ∼1 nm microemulsions induces localized quasi‐homogeneous polymerization, templating molecular‐level pores within the polyamide network. The resulting membranes exhibit excellent water permeance of 58.7 L m−2 h−1 bar−1 with NaCl‐Na2SO4 selectivity vs. water permeance surpasses the current upper bond. The strategy also works for hollow fiber membranes which show no performance decline even scaling up to 1‐inch modules. Positron annihilation spectroscopy, small‐angle x‐ray scatterings, molecular dynamics, CFD and other experimental results reveal that patterned surface, enhanced free volume and narrower pore size contribute to the enhanced performance. This active solvent‐mediated strategy provides a versatile and scalable method for enhancing membrane performance across water treatment and chemical separations.
SN - 2198-3844
ER -