Applications
An easily-synthesized and highly-efficient polymer membrane which can be used for water purification and desalination, membrane purification and separation, anti-bacterial coatings, and any industry interested in patterned nanostructures.
Key Benefits
- A single, well-ordered nanoarray membrane allows simultaneous transport of both positive and negative ions
- Synthesis utilizes inexpensive and widely available precursors
- Process is milder than previously created materials
Technical Summary
Charged mosaics are polymers with coexisting yet separate domains of positive and negative charges. As a membrane, they have unique transport properties over typical ion exchange membranes composed of one type of single ion conductor used in many nanofiltration processes. This membrane with coexisting zones of polyanions and polycations can produce high salt flux with high rejection of neutral solutes.
While these types of membranes have been long known to be technologically valuable, previous syntheses required harsh treatments and economically prohibitive techniques. FSU researchers have developed a new low-cost, mild system that utilizes block copolymer (BCP) self-assembly to synthesize these charge mosaic membranes. The two-step process ensures that reactions occur one domain at a time and maintains integrity of film morphology.
An article detailing the innovation was published in Macromolecules
Inventor Information
Dr. Justin G. Kennemur received his PhD in Analytical Polymer Chemistry from North Carolina State University in 2005. His current research seeks to understand how chemical composition and architecture of macromolecules ultimately leads to advanced functionality, chemical recyclability, and self-assembly capabilities. This is done by leveraging physical organic chemistry concepts to develop synthetic techniques in modern polymer chemistry.
