USTC constructs covalent organic framework membranes with sub-2-nanometer channels chemeurope.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from chemeurope.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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The bipolar membrane, a type of ion exchange membrane, is considered the pivotal material for zero emission technology. It is composed of an anode and cathode membrane layer, and an intermediate hydrolysis layer. Under reverse bias, the water molecules in the intermediate layer produce OH- and H+ by polarization.
Large-scale production of the membrane is hindered by the different expansion coefficients of the anode and cathode layers, causing the two layers easy to delaminate. Besides, the mostly used intermediate catalysts are small molecules or transition, which are instable and inefficient.
In a study published on
Nature Communications, a team led by Prof. XU Tongwen and Prof WU Liang from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) adopted an in-situ growth idea to construct a stable and efficient membrane.