Highly Selective Ionic Transport through Subnanometer Pores in Polymer Films

Qi Wen, Dongxiao Yan, Feng Liu*, Mao Wang, Yun Ling, Pengfei Wang, Patrick Kluth, Daniel Schauries, Christina Trautmann, Pavel Apel, Wei Guo, Guoqing Xiao, Jie Liu, Jianming Xue, Yugang Wang

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    201 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Novel transport phenomena through nanopores are expected to emerge as their diameters approach subnanometer scales. However, it has been challenging to explore such a regime experimentally. Here, this study reports on polymer subnanometer pores exhibiting unique selective ionic transport. 12 μm long, parallel oriented polymer nanopores are fabricated in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) films by irradiation with GeV heavy ions and subsequent 3 h exposure to UV radiation. These nanopores show ionic transport selectivity spanning more than 6 orders of magnitude: the order of the transport rate is Li+>Na+>K+>Cs+>>Mg2+>Ca2+>Ba2+, and heavy metal ions such as Cd2+ and anions are blocked. The transport can be switched off with a sharp transition by decreasing the pH value of the electrolyte. Structural measurements and molecular dynamics simulations suggest that the ionic transport is attributed to negatively charged nanopores with pore radii of ≈0.3 nm, and the selectivity is associated with the dehydration effect.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)5796-5803
    Number of pages8
    JournalAdvanced Functional Materials
    Volume26
    Issue number32
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 23 Aug 2016

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