Assembling covalent organic framework membranes with superior ion exchange capacity

Xiaoyao Wang; Benbing Shi; Hao Yang; Jingyuan Guan; Xu Liang; Chunyang Fan; Xinda You; Yanan Wang; Zhe Zhang; Hong Wu; Tao Cheng; Runnan Zhang; Zhongyi Jiang

doi:10.1038/s41467-022-28643-8

Assembling covalent organic framework membranes with superior ion exchange capacity

Nat Commun. 2022 Feb 23;13(1):1020. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-28643-8.

Authors

Xiaoyao Wang^#^{1

2}, Benbing Shi^#^{1

2}, Hao Yang³, Jingyuan Guan^{1

2}, Xu Liang^{1

2}, Chunyang Fan^{1

2}, Xinda You^{1

2}, Yanan Wang^{1

2}, Zhe Zhang³, Hong Wu^{1

2

4}, Tao Cheng³, Runnan Zhang^{5

6

7}, Zhongyi Jiang^{8

9

10

11}

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory for Green Chemical Technology of Ministry of Education, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, 300072, Tianjin, China.
² Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), 300072, Tianjin, China.
³ Institute of Functional Nano&Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials & Devices, Soochow University, 215123, Suzhou, China.
⁴ Tianjin Key Laboratory of Membrane Science and Desalination Technology, Tianjin University, 300072, Tianjin, China.
⁵ Key Laboratory for Green Chemical Technology of Ministry of Education, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, 300072, Tianjin, China. runnan.zhang@tju.edu.cn.
⁶ Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), 300072, Tianjin, China. runnan.zhang@tju.edu.cn.
⁷ Zhejiang Institute of Tianjin University, 315201, Ningbo, Zhejiang, China. runnan.zhang@tju.edu.cn.
⁸ Key Laboratory for Green Chemical Technology of Ministry of Education, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, 300072, Tianjin, China. zhyjiang@tju.edu.cn.
⁹ Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), 300072, Tianjin, China. zhyjiang@tju.edu.cn.
¹⁰ Zhejiang Institute of Tianjin University, 315201, Ningbo, Zhejiang, China. zhyjiang@tju.edu.cn.
¹¹ Joint School of National University of Singapore and Tianjin University, International Campus of Tianjin University, 350207, Binhai New City, Fuzhou, China. zhyjiang@tju.edu.cn.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Ionic covalent organic framework membranes (iCOFMs) hold great promise in ion conduction-relevant applications because the high content and monodispersed ionic groups could afford superior ion conduction. The key to push the upper limit of ion conductivity is to maximize the ion exchange capacity (IEC). Here, we explore iCOFMs with a superhigh ion exchange capacity of 4.6 mmol g^-1, using a dual-activation interfacial polymerization strategy. Fukui function is employed as a descriptor of monomer reactivity. We use Brønsted acid to activate aldehyde monomers in organic phase and Brønsted base to activate ionic amine monomers in water phase. After the dual-activation, the reaction between aldehyde monomer and amine monomer at the water-organic interface is significantly accelerated, leading to iCOFMs with high crystallinity. The resultant iCOFMs display a prominent proton conductivity up to 0.66 S cm^-1, holding great promise in ion transport and ionic separation applications.

Abstract

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