Abstract
Nanostructured polymers synthesized by lyotropic liquid crystal (LLC) templates with normal hexagonal (H1) structure exhibit a 3D-continuous transport path, which makes them ideal for membrane separation application. Incorporating additional functionality, especially stimuli-responsiveness, in such an ordered structure provides even more application opportunities. In this work, we present the first successful synthesis of H1-structured thermoresponsive ultrafiltration (UF) membranes via LLC templating. The membrane contains thermoresponsive Pluronic P84 diacrylate (P84DA) which not only acts as the monomer and structure-directing amphiphile, but also enables the pore size change with temperature. Experimental studies reveal that the swelling capacity of H1-templated polymer as well as permeability and selectivity of the obtained membrane can be altered by changing the temperature. Increasing the temperature from 25 to 45 °C increases the normalized flux from 28 to 68 L m−2 h−1 μm and molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) from 2200 to 3900 Da. Furthermore, the membrane shows an outstanding fouling resistance against different solutes.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
