Anomalous water molecular gating from atomic-scale graphene capillaries for precise and ultrafast molecular sieving.

ABSTRACT: The pressing crisis of clean water shortage requires membranes to possess effective ion sieving as well as fast water flux. However, effective ion sieving demands reduction of pore size, which inevitably hinders water flux in hydrophilic membranes, posing a major challenge for efficient water/ion separation. Herein, we introduce anomalous water molecular gating based on nanofiltration membranes full of graphene capillaries at 6 Å, which were fabricated from spontaneous π-π restacking of island-on-nanosheet graphitic microstructures. We found that the membrane can provide effective ion sieving by suppressing osmosis-driven ion diffusion to negligible levels (~10^-4 mol m^-2 h^-1); unexpectedly, ultrafast bulk flow of water (45.4 L m^-2 h^-1)

SUBMITTER: Zhang Q 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10587158 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature