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Title: Fabrication of Nanoporous Alumina Ultrafiltration Membrane with Tunable Pore Size Using Block Copolymer Templates

Abstract

Control over nanopore size and 3D structure is necessary to advance membrane performance in ubiquitous separation devices. Here, inorganic nanoporous membranes are fabricated by combining the assembly of cylinder-forming poly(styrene-block-methyl methacrylate) (PS-b-PMMA) block copolymer and sequential infiltration synthesis (SIS). A key advance relates to the use of PMMA majority block copolymer films and the optimization of thermal annealing temperature and substrate chemistry to achieve throughfilm vertical PS cylinders. The resulting morphology allows for direct fabrication of nanoporous AlOx by selective growth of Al2O3 in the PMMA matrix during the SIS process, followed by polymer removal using oxygen plasma. Control over the pore diameter is achieved by varying the number of Al2O3 growth cycles, leading to pore size reduction from 21 to 16 nm. 3D characterization, using scanning transmission electron microscopy tomography, reveals that the AlOx channels are continuous through the film and have a gradual increase in pore size with depth. Finally, the ultrafiltration performance of the fabricated AlOx membrane for protein separation as a function of protein size and charge is demonstrated.

Authors:
 [1]; ORCiD logo [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6]
  1. Institute for Molecular Engineering, The University of Chicago, 5801 South Ellis Avenue Chicago IL 60637 USA
  2. Department of Chemical Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000 Israel
  3. Department of Chemical Engineering, Yildiz Technical University, 34210 Esenler Istanbul Turkey
  4. Institute for Molecular Engineering, Material Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S. Cass Avenue Argonne IL 60439 USA
  5. MOE Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Synthesis and Functionalization, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027 China
  6. Institute for Molecular Engineering, The University of Chicago, 5801 South Ellis Avenue Chicago IL 60637 USA; Institute for Molecular Engineering, Material Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S. Cass Avenue Argonne IL 60439 USA
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science - Office of Basic Energy Sciences - Materials Sciences and Engineering Division
OSTI Identifier:
1476509
DOE Contract Number:  
AC02-06CH11357
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Advanced Functional Materials
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 27; Journal Issue: 34; Journal ID: ISSN 1616-301X
Publisher:
Wiley
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
sequential infiltration synthesis; block copolymers; molecular separation; nanoporous alumina membrane; self-assembly

Citation Formats

Zhou, Chun, Segal-Peretz, Tamar, Oruc, Muhammed Enes, Suh, Hyo Seon, Wu, Guangpeng, and Nealey, Paul F. Fabrication of Nanoporous Alumina Ultrafiltration Membrane with Tunable Pore Size Using Block Copolymer Templates. United States: N. p., 2017. Web. doi:10.1002/adfm.201701756.
Zhou, Chun, Segal-Peretz, Tamar, Oruc, Muhammed Enes, Suh, Hyo Seon, Wu, Guangpeng, & Nealey, Paul F. Fabrication of Nanoporous Alumina Ultrafiltration Membrane with Tunable Pore Size Using Block Copolymer Templates. United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.201701756
Zhou, Chun, Segal-Peretz, Tamar, Oruc, Muhammed Enes, Suh, Hyo Seon, Wu, Guangpeng, and Nealey, Paul F. 2017. "Fabrication of Nanoporous Alumina Ultrafiltration Membrane with Tunable Pore Size Using Block Copolymer Templates". United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.201701756.
@article{osti_1476509,
title = {Fabrication of Nanoporous Alumina Ultrafiltration Membrane with Tunable Pore Size Using Block Copolymer Templates},
author = {Zhou, Chun and Segal-Peretz, Tamar and Oruc, Muhammed Enes and Suh, Hyo Seon and Wu, Guangpeng and Nealey, Paul F.},
abstractNote = {Control over nanopore size and 3D structure is necessary to advance membrane performance in ubiquitous separation devices. Here, inorganic nanoporous membranes are fabricated by combining the assembly of cylinder-forming poly(styrene-block-methyl methacrylate) (PS-b-PMMA) block copolymer and sequential infiltration synthesis (SIS). A key advance relates to the use of PMMA majority block copolymer films and the optimization of thermal annealing temperature and substrate chemistry to achieve throughfilm vertical PS cylinders. The resulting morphology allows for direct fabrication of nanoporous AlOx by selective growth of Al2O3 in the PMMA matrix during the SIS process, followed by polymer removal using oxygen plasma. Control over the pore diameter is achieved by varying the number of Al2O3 growth cycles, leading to pore size reduction from 21 to 16 nm. 3D characterization, using scanning transmission electron microscopy tomography, reveals that the AlOx channels are continuous through the film and have a gradual increase in pore size with depth. Finally, the ultrafiltration performance of the fabricated AlOx membrane for protein separation as a function of protein size and charge is demonstrated.},
doi = {10.1002/adfm.201701756},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1476509}, journal = {Advanced Functional Materials},
issn = {1616-301X},
number = 34,
volume = 27,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Jul 24 00:00:00 EDT 2017},
month = {Mon Jul 24 00:00:00 EDT 2017}
}

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