Large-area, self-healing block copolymer membranes for energy conversion

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Sproncken, Christian C. M.; Liu, Peng; Monney, Justin; Fall, William S.; Pierucci, Carolina; Scholten, Philip B. V.; Van Bueren, Brian; Penedo, Marcos; Fantner, Georg Ernest; Wensink, Henricus H.; Steiner, Ullrich; Weder, Christoph; Bruns, Nico; Mayer, Michael; Ianiro, Alessandro
• 署名单位: University of Fribourg; University of Fribourg; Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain; ETH Zurich; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); CNRS - Institute of Physics (INP); Universite Paris Saclay; Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain; Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne; University of Strathclyde; Technical University of Darmstadt; Technical University of Darmstadt
• 刊物名称: Nature
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0028-3815
• DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07481-2
• 发表日期: 2024-06-27
• 页码: 866-+
• 关键词: cell-membrane; valinomycin

摘要

Membranes are widely used for separation processes in applications such as water desalination, batteries and dialysis, and are crucial in key sectors of our economy and society(1). The majority of technologically exploited membranes are based on solid polymers and function as passive barriers, whose transport characteristics are governed by their chemical composition and nanostructure. Although such membranes are ubiquitous, it has proved challenging to maximize selectivity and permeability independently, leading to trade-offs between these pertinent characteristics(2). Self-assembled biological membranes, in which barrier and transport functions are decoupled3,4, provide the inspiration to address this problem(5,6.) Here we introduce a self-assembly strategy that uses the interface of an aqueous two-phase system to template and stabilize molecularly thin (approximately 35 nm) biomimetic block copolymer bilayers of scalable area that can exceed 10 cm(2) without defects. These membranes are self-healing, and their barrier function against the passage of ions (specific resistance of approximately 1 MO cm(2)) approaches that of phospholipid membranes. The fluidity of these membranes enables straightforward functionalization with molecular carriers that shuttle potassium ions down a concentration gradient with exquisite selectivity over sodium ions. This ion selectivity enables the generation of electric power from equimolar solutions of NaCl and KCl in devices that mimic the electric organ of electric rays.