Polymer membrane with vertically aligned pore channels and controlled pore surface chemistry
| DWPI Title: Synthesizing polymer membrane with vertically aligned pore channels used in water, biopharma, medical industries to perform filtration, involves dissolving amphiphilic block copolymer in solvent for polymer blocks to form copolymer solution |
| Abstract: A nanoporous polymer membrane with vertically aligned pore channels can be synthesized through self-assembly of amphiphilic block copolymers on a supporting substrate. The pore surface chemistry can be functionalized for selective anion transport. |
| Use: Method for synthesizing polymer membrane with vertically aligned pore channels used in water, food, biopharma, petrochemical, microelectronics, and medical industries to perform filtration with varying degrees of fineness and complexity. |
| Advantage: The method for synthesizing polymer membrane with vertically aligned pore channels helps in improving membrane performance; provides rapid population growth and industrialization as well as increasing energy production; reduces cost of water purification, synthetic membranes with vertical pore channels to substrates and densely packed pores are critical for fast transport and selective ion transport. |
| Novelty: Synthesizing polymer membrane with vertically aligned pore channels involves dissolving amphiphilic block copolymer in solvent for both hydrophobic and hydrophilic polymer blocks to form copolymer solution; adding hydrogen-bonding acid to copolymer solution, where hydrogen bonding molecules of hydrogen-bonding acid form hydrogen bonds with hydrophilic polymer blocks in copolymer and acid solution; depositing copolymer-acid solution on substrate; removing solvent, where hydrophilic polymer blocks and hydrogen bonding molecules self-assemble to form vertically aligned columns surrounded by matrix of hydrophobic polymer blocks; and removing hydrogen bonding molecules with alcohol rinse to form multiple vertically aligned pore channels in polymer membrane. |
| Filed: 6/17/2020 |
| Application Number: US16903608A |
| Tech ID: SD 15040.1 |
| This invention was made with Government support under Contract No. DE-NA0003525 awarded by the United States Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration. The Government has certain rights in the invention. |
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