3D covalent organic framework membrane with fast and selective ion transport

Tianhao Zhu; Yan Kong; Bohui Lyu; Li Cao; Benbing Shi; Xiaoyao Wang; Xiao Pang; Chunyang Fan; Chao Yang; Hong Wu; Zhongyi Jiang

doi:10.1038/s41467-023-41555-5

3D covalent organic framework membrane with fast and selective ion transport

Nat Commun. 2023 Sep 22;14(1):5926. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-41555-5.

Authors

Tianhao Zhu^#^{1

2}, Yan Kong^#^{1

2}, Bohui Lyu³, Li Cao^{1

2}, Benbing Shi^{1

2}, Xiaoyao Wang^{1

2}, Xiao Pang^{1

2}, Chunyang Fan^{1

2}, Chao Yang^{1

2}, Hong Wu^{1

2}, Zhongyi Jiang^{4

5

6}

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory for Green Chemical Technology of Ministry of Education, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China.
² Haihe Laboratory of Sustainable Chemical Transformations, Tianjin, 300072, China.
³ Joint School of National University of Singapore and Tianjin University, International Campus of Tianjin University, Binhai New City, Fuzhou, 350207, China.
⁴ Key Laboratory for Green Chemical Technology of Ministry of Education, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China. zhyjiang@tju.edu.cn.
⁵ Haihe Laboratory of Sustainable Chemical Transformations, Tianjin, 300072, China. zhyjiang@tju.edu.cn.
⁶ Joint School of National University of Singapore and Tianjin University, International Campus of Tianjin University, Binhai New City, Fuzhou, 350207, China. zhyjiang@tju.edu.cn.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

3D ionic covalent organic framework (COF) membranes, which are envisioned to be able to break the trade-off between ion conductivity and ion selectivity, are waiting for exploitation. Herein, we report the fabrication of a 3D sulfonic acid-functionalized COF membrane (3D SCOF) for efficient and selective ion transport, using dual acid-mediated interfacial polymerization strategy. The 3D SCOF membranes possess highly interconnected ion transport channels, ultramicroporous pore sizes (0.97 nm), and abundant sulfonate groups (with a high ion exchange capacity of 4.1 mmol g^-1), leading to high proton conductivity of 843 mS cm^-1 at 90 °C. When utilized in osmotic energy conversion, a high power density of 21.2 W m^-2, and a remarkable selectivity of 0.976 and thus an exceptional energy conversion efficiency of 45.3% are simultaneously achieved. This work provides an alternative approach to 3D ionic COF membranes and promotes the applications of 3D COFs in ion transport and separation.

Abstract

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