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Hydrophilic microporous membranes for selective ion separation and flow-battery energy storage

Rui Tan Orcid Logo, Anqi Wang Orcid Logo, Richard Malpass-Evans, Rhodri Williams, Evan Wenbo Zhao, Tao Liu, Chunchun Ye, Xiaoqun Zhou, Barbara Primera Darwich, Zhiyu Fan, Lukas Turcani Orcid Logo, Edward Jackson Orcid Logo, Linjiang Chen, Samantha Y. Chong Orcid Logo, Tao Li, Kim E. Jelfs, Andrew I. Cooper, Nigel P. Brandon, Clare P. Grey, Neil B. McKeown Orcid Logo, Qilei Song Orcid Logo

Nature Materials, Volume: 19, Issue: 2, Pages: 195 - 202

Swansea University Author: Rui Tan Orcid Logo

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Abstract

Membranes with fast and selective ion transport are widely used for water purification and devices for energy conversion and storage including fuel cells, redox flow batteries and electrochemical reactors. However, it remains challenging to design cost-effective, easily processed ion-conductive memb...

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Published in: Nature Materials
ISSN: 1476-1122 1476-4660
Published: Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2020
Online Access: Check full text

URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa67824
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Abstract: Membranes with fast and selective ion transport are widely used for water purification and devices for energy conversion and storage including fuel cells, redox flow batteries and electrochemical reactors. However, it remains challenging to design cost-effective, easily processed ion-conductive membranes with well-defined pore architectures. Here, we report a new approach to designing membranes with narrow molecular-sized channels and hydrophilic functionality that enable fast transport of salt ions and high size-exclusion selectivity towards small organic molecules. These membranes, based on polymers of intrinsic microporosity containing Tröger’s base or amidoxime groups, demonstrate that exquisite control over subnanometre pore structure, the introduction of hydrophilic functional groups and thickness control all play important roles in achieving fast ion transport combined with high molecular selectivity. These membranes enable aqueous organic flow batteries with high energy efficiency and high capacity retention, suggesting their utility for a variety of energy-related devices and water purification processes.
Item Description: An Author Correction to this article was published on 22 December 2019, available at https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-019-0593-z
College: Faculty of Science and Engineering
Issue: 2
Start Page: 195
End Page: 202