Abstract
Hierarchically structured porous membranes have shown promising advantages over traditional membranes when used in separation technologies. These bio-inspired sophisticated structures provide a feasible scaffold to tailor membranes with desired functionalities for potential applications in ion separation. This study presents a unique approach to fabricating hierarchical structured porous membranes containing zwitterionic pores and investigates the impact of zwitterionic pores on membrane performance. The membranes were fabricated via a supported sol-gel strategy to facilitate the orientation and organisation of the functional groups in the silica network. Quaternised poly(2-dimethylaminoethanol-N-2,3-dimethylphenyl oxide) (QDAPPO) was used to form the main matrix, whereas an organosilane ionic liquid (IL) and 4-(hydroxymethyl)benzoic acid underwent electrostatic ion repulsion to form zwitterionic pores. The obtained membranes exhibited a superior proton diffusion coefficient of 0.0386mh−1 at 25°C. Despite their high ionic characteristics, these hierarchical structured anion exchange membranes containing zwitterionic pores also had high mechanical and dimensional stability.
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