Block Copolymer Hollow Fiber Membranes with Catalytic Activity and pH-Response

by R. Hilke, N. Pradeep, P. Madhavan, U. Vainio, A. Behzad, R. Sougrat, S.P. Nunes, K.V. Peinemann
Year: 2013 ISSN: DOI: 10.1021/am401163h

Bibliography

Block Copolymer Hollow Fiber Membranes with Catalytic Activity and pH-Response
R. Hilke, N. Pradeep, P. Madhavan, U. Vainio, A. Behzad, R. Sougrat, S.P. Nunes, K.V. Peinemann
ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces 5, 7001–7006, (2013)

Abstract

Pub_2013_BCH

We fabricated block copolymer hollow fiber membranes with self-assembled, shell-side, uniform pore structures. The fibers in these membranes combined pores able to respond to pH and acting as chemical gates that opened above pH 4, and catalytic activity, achieved by the incorporation of gold nanoparticles. We used a dry/wet spinning process to produce the asymmetric hollow fibers and determined the conditions under which the hollow fibers were optimized to create the desired pore morphology and the necessary mechanical stability. To induce ordered micelle assembly in the doped solution, we identified an ideal solvent mixture as confirmed by small-angle X-ray scattering. We then reduced p-nitrophenol with a gold-loaded fiber to confirm the catalytic performance of the membranes.

Keywords

Block copolymer Self-assembly Membrane Hollow fiber Filtration Catalysis