Issue 2, 2024

Tough polycyclooctene nanoporous membranes from etchable block copolymers

Abstract

Porous materials with pore dimensions of the nanometer length scale are useful as nanoporous membranes. ABA triblock copolymers are convenient precursors to such nanoporous materials if the end blocks are easily degradable (e.g., polylactide or PLA), leaving nanoporous polymeric membranes (NPMs) if in thin film form. The membrane properties are dependent on midblock monomer structure, triblock copolymer composition, overall molar mass, and polymer processing conditions. Polycyclooctene (PCOE) NPMs were prepared using this method, with tunable pore sizes on the order of tens of nanometers. Solvent casting was shown to eliminate film defects and allowed achievement of superior mechanical properties over melt processing techniques, and PCOE NPMs were found to be very tough, a major advance over previously reported NPMs. Oxygen plasma etching was used to remove the surface skin layer to obtain membranes with higher surface porosity, membrane hydrophilicity, and flux of both air and water. This is a straightforward method to reliably produce highly tough NPMs with high levels of porosity and hydrophilic surface properties.

Graphical abstract: Tough polycyclooctene nanoporous membranes from etchable block copolymers

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
06 nov 2023
Accepted
11 dec 2023
First published
19 dec 2023

Soft Matter, 2024,20, 437-448

Tough polycyclooctene nanoporous membranes from etchable block copolymers

B. D. Hoehn, E. A. Kellstedt and M. A. Hillmyer, Soft Matter, 2024, 20, 437 DOI: 10.1039/D3SM01498C

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