Affiliation:
1. School of Chemical Engineering and Pharmacy Hubei Key Lab of Novel Reactor & Green Chemical Technology Key Laboratory of Green Chemical Engineering Process of Ministry of Education Wuhan Institute of Technology No.206 Guanggu Road, East Lake New Technology Development Zone Wuhan 430072 China
2. Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering University of Alberta 9211‐116 Street NW Edmonton Alberta T6G 1H9 Canada
3. Energy Engineering Group Energy 2050 University of Sheffield Western Bank Sheffield S3 7RD UK
4. Department of Mechanical Engineering University of Alberta 9211‐116 Street NW Edmonton Alberta T6G 1H9 Canada
Abstract
AbstractJanus membranes with asymmetric wettability have been considered cutting‐edge for energy/environmental‐sustainable applications like water/fog harvester, breathable skin, and smart sensor; however, technical challenges in fabrication and accurate regulation of asymmetric wettability limit their development. Herein, by using water‐assisted hydrogen‐bonded (H‐bonded) assembly of small molecules at water/oil interface, a facile strategy is proposed for one‐step fabrication of membranes with well‐regulable asymmetric wettability. Asymmetric orderly patterns, beneficial for mass transport based on abundant high‐permeability sites and large surface area, are constructed on opposite membrane surfaces. Upon tuning water‐assisted H‐bonding via H‐sites/configuration design and temperature/pH modulation, double‐hydrophobic, double‐hydrophilic, and hydrophobic‐hydrophilic membranes are facilely fabricated. The Janus membranes show smart vapor‐responsive curling and unidirectional water transport with promising flux of 1158±25 L m−2 h−1 under natural gravity and 31500±670 L·(m−2 h−1 bar−1) at negative pressure. This bottom‐up approach offers a feasible‐to‐scalable avenue to precise‐manipulation of Janus membranes for advanced applications, providing an effective pathway for developing tailor‐made self‐assembled nanomaterials.
Funder
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Shanxi-Zheda Institute of Advanced Materials and Chemical Engineering
Yulin University
Dalian National Laboratory for Clean Energy
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
Subject
General Physics and Astronomy,General Engineering,Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (miscellaneous),General Materials Science,General Chemical Engineering,Medicine (miscellaneous)