Regulating the aggregation of anionic nanoparticles for size-tunable nanochannels

• Published in: Journal of membrane science 2020-06, Vol.604, p.118076, Article 118076
• Main Authors: Sun, Chuang-Chao, Zhou, Ming-Yong, Yuan, Jia-Jia, Yan, Yan, Song, You-Zhi, Fang, Li-Feng, AbdAllah, Heba, Shalaby, Marwa S., Shaban, Ahmed M., Zhu, Bao-Ku
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aggregation of anionic nanoparticles; Ionic strength; Metal cations; Size-tunable nanochannels
• ISSN: 0376-7388; 1873-3123
• DOI: 10.1016/j.memsci.2020.118076

Nanochannels fabricated from the aggregation of charged amphiphilic nanoparticles are of growing interest. The nanochannel size can be further affected by electrostatic interactions between these nanoparticles and metal cations. Herein, size-tunable nanochannels (from 0.5 to 1.4 nm in average) are obtained via regulating the aggregation of anionic nanoparticles using sulfonated polysulfone (SPSF) nanoparticles as a model. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) images and dynamic light scattering (DLS) curves show the aggregates of SPSF nanoparticles in a wide range from nanoscale to micrometer-scale via adding different metal cations. Further analysis of the nanochannels shows the quantitative correlation between ionic strength of metal cations (ISMC) and nanochannel size. Preliminary evaluation of the size-tunable nanochannels exhibits a good separation performance with the Na2SO4 rejection of 98.3% and water flux of 5.8 L m-2 h-1 bar-1, indicating a high level among the reported researches. [Display omitted] •Size-tunable nanochannels were successfully fabricated via regulating the aggregation of anionic nanoparticles.•With quantitative regulation of the ISMC, the nanochannel size was precisely controlled.•The size-tunable nanochannels exhibited good separation performance.