Constructing Scalable Superhydrophobic Membranes for Ultrafast Water-Oil Separation.

Superhydrophobic membranes are desirable for separation of water-in-oil emulsions, membrane distillation, and membrane condensation. However, the lack of large-scale manufacture methods of superhydrophobic membranes hampers their widespread applications. Here, a facile method of coaxial electrospinning is provided to manufacture superhydrophobic membranes for the ultrafast separation of water-in-oil emulsions.

Universal unilateral electro-spinning/spraying strategy to construct water-unidirectional Janus membranes with well-tuned hierarchical micro/nanostructures.

Janus membranes (JMs) with hierarchical micro/nanostructures were constructed by unilaterally electro-spinning/spraying a hydrophobic polymer on various hydrophilic porous substrates for liquid manipulation/rectification. The membrane geometry and liquid transport behaviors can be delicately tuned. Our novel universal strategy can be extended to diverse hydrophobic porous substrates.

Hyper-Cross-Linked Additives that Impede Aging and Enhance Permeability in Thin Polyacetylene Films for Organic Solvent Nanofiltration.

Membrane materials with high permeability to solvents while rejecting dissolved contaminants are crucial to lowering the energy costs associated with liquid separations. However, the current lack of stable high-permeability materials require innovative engineering solutions to yield high-performance, thin membranes using stable polymers with low permeabilities. Poly[1-(trimethylsilyl)-1-propyne] (PTMSP) is one of the most permeable polymers but is extremely susceptible to physical aging.

Organic Microporous Nanofillers with Unique Alcohol Affinity for Superior Ethanol Recovery toward Sustainable Biofuels.

To minimize energy consumption and carbon footprints, pervaporation membranes are fast becoming the preferred technology for alcohol recovery. However, this approach is confined to small-scale operations, as the flux of standard rubbery polymer membranes remain insufficient to process large solvent volumes, whereas membrane separations that use glassy polymer membranes are prone to physical aging. This study concerns how the alcohol affinity and intrinsic porosity of networked, organic, microporous polymers can simultaneously reduce physical aging and drastically enhance both flux and selectivity of a super glassy polymer, poly-[1-(trimethylsilyl)propyne] (PTMSP).