Microporous polymer adsorptive membranes with high processing capacity for molecular separation

ZG Wang and XF Luo and ZJ Song and K Lu and SW Zhu and YS Yang and YT Zhang and WX Fang and J Jin, NATURE COMMUNICATIONS, 13, 4169 (2022).

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-31575-y

Trade-off between permeability and nanometer-level selectivity is an inherent shortcoming of membrane-based separation of molecules. Here, the authors report a membrane adsorption material based on hydrophilic amidoxime modified polymer of intrinsic microporosity to selectively adsorb and separate small organic molecules from water with ultrahigh processing capacity Trade-off between permeability and nanometer-level selectivity is an inherent shortcoming of membrane-based separation of molecules, while most highly porous materials with high adsorption capacity lack solution processability and stability for achieving adsorption-based molecule separation. We hereby report a hydrophilic amidoxime modified polymer of intrinsic microporosity (AOPIM-1) as a membrane adsorption material to selectively adsorb and separate small organic molecules from water with ultrahigh processing capacity. The membrane adsorption capacity for Rhodamine B reaches 26.114 g m(-2), 10-1000 times higher than previously reported adsorptive membranes. Meanwhile, the membrane achieves >99.9% removal of various nano-sized organic molecules with water flux 2 orders of magnitude higher than typical pressure-driven membranes of similar rejections. This work confirms the feasibility of microporous polymers for membrane adsorption with high capacity, and provides the possibility of adsorptive membranes for molecular separation.

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