Ultraporous films with uniform nanochannels by block copolymer micelles assembly
S.P. Nunes, R. Sougrat, B. Hooghan, D.H. Anjum, A.R. Behzad, L. Zhao, N. Pradeep, I. Pinnau, U. Vainio, and K.-V. Peinemann
Macromolecules 43, 8079–8085, (2010)
Films with high pore density and regularity that are easy to manufacture by conventional large-scale technology are key components aimed for fabrication of new generations of magnetic arrays for storage media, medical scaffolds, and artificial membranes. However, potential manufacture strategies like the self-assembly of block copolymers, which lead to amazing regular patterns, could be hardly reproduced up to now using commercially feasible methods. Here we report a unique production method of nanoporous films based on the self-assembly of copper(II) ion−polystyrene-b-poly(4-vinylpyridine) complexes and nonsolvent induced phase separation. Extremely high pore densities and uniformity were achieved. Water fluxes of 890 L m−2 h−1 bar -1 were obtained, which are at least 1 order of magnitude higher than those of commercially available membranes with comparable pore size. The pores are also stimuli (pH)-responsive.