Ultraporous films with uniform nanochannels by block copolymer micelles assembly

by 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
Year: 2010 ISSN: DOI: 10.1021/ma101531k

Bibliography

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)

Abstract

Pub_2010_UFU

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.

Keywords

Ultraporous films Nanochannels block copolymers