The safety and efficacy of low molecular weight dextran (LMWD) in pharmaceutical applications critically depend on the uniformity of its molecular weight distribution. In this study, a novel ultrafiltration (UF) modified membrane was prepared by UV-induced surface graft polymerization on the commercial polysulfone (PSf) membrane for the efficient separation of LMWD. Benzophenone (BP) was employed as the photoinitiator to initiate the grafting polymerization of the difunctional monomer divinylbenzene (DVB). During the polymerization process, DVB underwent both chain homopolymerization and intermolecular crosslinking, forming a dense three-dimensional network that significantly reduced the membrane pore size and enhanced its separation selectivity. The optimized PSf-g-DVB membrane, prepared with a concentration of 2 wt% DVB and 1 wt% BP, achieved over 85% rejection of 20 kDa dextran, while the rejection rate for 2 kDa dextran was only 0.2 %, with a water permeance of 5.4 L m- 2 h- 1 & sdot;bar- 1. Furthermore, the membrane demonstrated excellent stability, maintaining a rejection difference of 70% between the two different molecular weights of dextrans after 48 h of continuous filtration. In filtration experiments with mixed dextran solutions, the PSf-g-DVB membrane exhibited a separation factor as high as 11.5, nearly 9 times higher than that of the commercial PSf membrane, further confirming the feasibility of UV-grafted membrane modification for the selective sieving of LMWD, and offering a green and effective approach for pharmaceutical-grade dextran purification.

In order to meet the demand for high-performance copper coatings in aerospace and other fields, this study adopts dual-scale bidirectional pulse plating (BPP) technology. By constructing two time scales of macro-cycle and sub-pulse, the decoupling and independent regulation of macro-mass transfer and micro-dynamics are realized. The independent influence of key parameters such as sub-pulse duty cycle is systematically studied. The morphology, corrosion resistance and surface chemical state of the coating were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), polarization curve, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). X-ray diffraction (XRD) and XPS analysis showed that the optimized sub-pulse parameters could promote the formation of a more protective crystallographic texture and a more stable Cu2O passivation film, which effectively enhancing corrosion resistance. The established kinetic model coupled the process of electric double layer charging, hydrogen evolution competition and diffusion mass transfer, and successfully explained the non-monotonic effect of duty cycle on deposition rate and corrosion resistance under constant average current. The results show that the density, flatness and corrosion resistance of the coating can be significantly improved by only regulating the sub-pulse parameters. The optimized parameters are as follows: the main cycle is 110 ms, the forward / reverse average current density is 0.8 / 1.0 A·dm-2, the sub-pulse duty cycle is 20 %, and the sub-cycle is 1 ms. This study clarifies the independent regulation mechanism of sub-pulses and provides a new method for the precise preparation of high-performance copper coatings.

Gas permeability and plasma leakage resistance are key performance requirements for hollow fiber membranes (HFMs) in extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), yet they are typically constrained by an inherent structural trade-off. In this study, PP/SiO2 hollow fiber mixed matrix membranes (HF MMMs) were prepared through a hybrid induced phase separation (HIPS) approach, in which oleic acid (OA) and Rhodiasolv® PolarClean (PL) were employed as a dual-diluent system. By incorporating hydrophobic SiO2 nanoparticles into the casting system, the membrane formation process was simultaneously regulated at both the phase separation and crystallization stages. The introduced SiO2 nanoparticles promoted earlier liquid-liquid phase separation and accelerated PP crystallization via heterogeneous nucleation, thereby driving the membrane morphology from a mixed cellular/bicontinuous structure toward a highly interconnected bicontinuous architecture with a thinner dense outer layer and higher porosity. This synergistic structural evolution significantly enhanced gas transport while maintaining excellent plasma leakage resistance. The optimized membrane containing 3 wt% SiO2 achieved an N2 flux of 5.33 ± 0.07 mL min−1·cm−2·bar−1, a porosity of 47%, and a plasma leakage resistance time of 9900 min. Compared with commercial PP and PMP oxygenation membranes, the developed membrane exhibited a superior balance between gas permeation and plasma leakage resistance. Moreover, it also showed improved hemocompatibility, as evidenced by prolonged intrinsic coagulation time and reduced platelet loss. This work demonstrates that hydrophobic SiO2 is an effective additive for engineering PP oxygenation membranes with simultaneously enhanced gas transport, prolonged plasma leakage resistance, and favorable blood compatibility, providing a promising strategy for advanced ECMO membrane design.

Substrate properties influence polyamide (PA) formation during interfacial polymerization (IP), yet the relationship between monomer storage within the substrate and monomer replenishment toward the reaction interface remains unclear. Polyethersulfone (PES) substrates with different pore sizes were used to examine this relationship. Larger pore substrates have greater aqueous phase retention, while the apparent aqueous phase diffusion of piperazine (PIP) decreased with increasing pore size. The opposite trends indicate that greater monomer storage does not necessarily result in more effective monomer replenishment toward the reaction interface. Diffusion experiments and capillary analysis further show that substrate pore size regulates PIP diffusion and replenishment through capillary effects within pores filled with water, which alters the local monomer supply near the reaction interface and affects PA growth. The resulting PA layers therefore differed in thickness, morphology, and pore size distribution. Among the investigated substrates, PES-30 k provided a suitable balance between monomer replenishment and interfacial reaction, producing a more homogeneous sieving structure with a Li+/Mg2+ separation factor of 29.1 and promising performance in simulated salt lake brines. This study provides new mechanistic insights into how substrate pore structure regulates interfacial polymerization and offers a mechanistic basis for the rational design of TFC nanofiltration membranes through substrate pore structure optimization.

This review highlights 1D, 2D, 3D carbon skeletons for flexible self‑supporting electrodes. It covers loading strategies, zinc‑ion battery cathode mechanisms, challenges and promising wearable‑electronics applications.

Plasma leakage and thrombosis remain critical challenges limiting the long-term performance of poly(4-methyl-1-pentene) (PMP) hollow fiber membranes (HFMs) in extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). In this work, a hierarchical hydrophobic modification strategy was developed to construct a stable anti-wetting interface on PMP HFMs. Surface hydroxyl groups were first generated via Fenton-induced oxidation, followed by interfacial coupling with trimesoyl chloride (TMC). Subsequently, SiO2 nanoparticles were grafted to create a micro/nano-structured rough surface, and further modified with 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorodecyltrimethoxysilane (17-FAS) to reduce surface energy. Under the optimized conditions (120 min Fenton pre-treatment, 60 min TMC reaction, and 0.1% (mass) SiO2 nanoparticles), the modified PMP–SiO2/17-FAS membrane exhibited a high N2 flux of 54.1 ml·cm–2·min–1·MPa–1, while the plasma leakage resistance time was significantly prolonged from 5910 to 8775 min. In addition, bovine serum albumin adsorption was reduced by approximately 50%, indicating enhanced antifouling performance. Coagulation tests further revealed a selective prolongation of activated partial thromboplastin time, while prothrombin time, thrombin time, and international normalized ratio remained nearly unchanged, suggesting suppressed contact-induced coagulation activation without disturbing normal coagulation pathways. The enhanced performance could be attributed to the synergistic effect of micro/nano-structured roughness and the fluorinated low-surface-energy layer, which stabilizes a non-wetting interfacial state and reduces protein-surface interactions. This work provides a feasible strategy for simultaneously improving plasma leakage resistance and hemocompatibility of PMP-based oxygenation membranes.

The rapid and complex dynamics of interfacial polymerization (IP) have long hindered real-time monitoring, limiting fundamental insights into the synthesis-structure-performance relationship of polyamide thin-film composite (PA TFC) membranes. In this work, the IP process, where aqueous and organic monomers react to form a thin PA membrane layer, was successfully simulated using the Dissipative Particle Dynamics (DPD) method at a large scale, with the hexane-trimesoyl chloride/water-piperazine (hexane-TMC/water-PIP) system serving as a representative model. Coarse-grained models and interaction parameters for all molecular species were first developed, and a DPD-based protocol for simulating the IP reaction was subsequently established, enabling a systematic investigation of membrane formation at the mesoscale level. By adopting the concentrations employed in experimental studies, the simulation results showed that, in the early stage of IP, highmolecular-weight polymer chains form rapidly; as steric hindrance accumulates, shorter chains are increasingly generated, stabilizing the PA molecular weight. Then, the effect of monomer concentration on membrane formation dynamics and the resulting PA layer morphology was systematically investigated. The results showed that simultaneous increases in both monomer phases promote the formation of shorter PA chain segments, leading to increased membrane thickness and reduced pore size. In contrast, increasing the concentration of a single monomer phase favors the formation of longer PA chains, resulting in negligible changes in membrane thickness while slightly reducing pore size. Finally, a support-free IP process was employed to prepare PA membranes, and the corresponding membrane structures and thickness evolution were measured to validate the simulation results. This work aims to provide a large-scale, DPD-based model capable of simulating the IP process in different practical systems to form TFC membranes, thereby enabling a deeper understanding of membrane formation kinetics.

Developing nanofiltration membranes with high permeance, superior rejection performance, and long-term stability is of great significance for the resource recovery of pharmaceutical wastewater. In this study, a composite nanofiltration membrane (NF-Ti) featuring a unique loose microstructure was successfully fabricated on a TiO2/Al2O3 substrate by regulating the interfacial polymerization process. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, combined with monomer diffusion experiments, revealed the mechanism by which the TiO2/Al2O3 substrate regulates aqueous monomer diffusion. The NF-Ti membrane exhibited a high permeance of 12.8 L.m-2.h-1.bar-1 and an exceptional SMX/NaCl selectivity factor (SSMX/NaCl=18.38). Furthermore, the formation of a stable hydration layer on the membrane surface, combined with a significant positive charge (+37.4 mV), endowed the membrane with outstanding anti-fouling properties (flux recovery ratio of 95.9%). Notably, the membrane demonstrated superior thermal stability, maintaining performance without degradation even after ten calcination-regeneration cycles. Long-term operational tests (198 h) and life cycle cost (LCC) analysis further validated its practical viability. Collectively, this research provides a theoretical foundation for ceramic substrate regulated interfacial polymerization and presents an economical, efficient, and sustainable technical solution for industrial wastewater treatment and resource recovery.

Aqueous organic electrosynthesis produces valuable chemicals sustainably but yields dilute solutions, making separation energy‐intensive. While osmotic membrane distillation (OMD) concentrates solutions, it requires energy to regenerate its draw solution. In this study, we leverage the essential requirement of water replenishment in alkaline water electrolysis (AWE) by utilizing the alkaline electrolyte as the draw solution to fulfill the need for water removal in OMD. In this integrated system, water vapor selectively migrates from the organic solution through a porous hydrophobic membrane into the electrolyte via OMD, while being consumed via AWE. This coupled system demonstrates the capability to achieve a 430‐fold concentration of furoate salt (a typical electrosynthesis product in alkaline media) without compromising AWE performance. Crucially, it requires no additional energy for draw regeneration, reducing subsequent separation energy consumption by three orders of magnitude. This presents a novel, energy‐free concentration technology and a new revenue stream for AWE beyond hydrogen.

Bromine-rich fluid, which can be generated during the bromine extraction from seawater by the air blow-out method, is usually acidized to produce liquid bromine. Liquid bromine will be further used in the synthesis of bromides. This traditional method for the treatment of bromine-rich fluid and the production of bromides is relatively complex and can produce a large amount of bromine-containing wastewater. The objective of this work is to develop a highly efficient and eco-friendly method for treating bromine-rich fluid and then producing bromides. In this work, a continuous electrodialysis metathesis was designed to directly convert the bromine-rich fluid, which mainly contains sodium bromide and sodium bromate, into high-value calcium bromide and the byproduct calcium bromate. This method realizes the direct conversion of bromine-rich fluid into CaBr2 for the first time, eliminating the intermediate step-preparation of Br2 in the conventional methods. The comprehensive parametric study showed that the concentrations of calcium bromide and calcium bromate can reach up to 1.31 and 0.195 mol/L in the product solution, respectively. Based on the analysis of the phase diagrams and the determined solubility, the evaporation followed by the solid-liquid extraction was proposed to purify CaBr2 and Ca(BrO3)2. The purity of calcium bromide can be increased to 93.27%, with a yield of 91.15%. This work provides a new method for the efficient utilization of bromine-rich fluid and the clean production of calcium bromide, and it can also be easily expanded to the recovery of other bromide resources.

Artificial stimulus-responsive membranes, particularly those responsive to different solvents, have important applications in complex and graded separation systems. Inspired by natural lipid membrane that alters mass transport behavior in response to interactions with various solvents, we report that incorporating porous graphene (PG) into graphene oxide (GO) membrane enables smart and switchable molecular sieving reversibly responsive to solvent types. The membrane shows high permeance for water and methanol, 45.52 and 13.56 L m-2 h-1 bar-1, respectively, and its molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) at ~319 g mol-1 in water, similar to pristine GO membrane, reversibly switches to 960 g mol-1 in methanol which is not observed in either pristine GO or graphene membrane. We accounted this switching to the change of transport pathways. In water, the GO-GO nanochannel is dominant, providing similar molecular sieving to pristine GO. In methanol, the GO-PG nanochannel becomes favorable because a strong solvent adsorption on the nanochannel surface, coupled with a weak solvent network under nanoconfinement, promotes a significant interlayer expansion, reducing the transport resistance and enabling larger, switched MWCO. This switchable sieving behavior is further demonstrated for efficient graded separation of ternary solution of solutes with various molecular weights.

Anion exchange membranes (AEMs) are one of the core components of membrane electrode assembly (MEA) in green hydrogen production and carbon dioxide conversion, influencing the overall performance and durability of the electrolyzer. Therefore, it is particularly important to develop AEMs with high hydroxide ion conductivity (OH-) conductivity, low gas permeability and high stability. In this paper, polybenzimidazole (PBI) and zirconia (ZrO2) composite membranes with loosened chain packing were prepared by pre-swelling and pre-evaporation. The prepared g-OPBI/ZrO2-3 % composite membrane had lower area resistance (0.16 Omega center dot cm2, 80 degrees C), higher OH- conductivity (105.70 mS center dot cm-1 ), and excellent long-term stability. Next, the g-OPBI/ZrO2-3 % composite membrane was applied both in the anion exchange membrane water electrolysis (AEMWE) and electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR) system. The result demonstrated remarkable alkali stability in AEMWE system, maintaining stability for 1000 h (h) at room temperature. Meanwhile, it also demonstrated notable Faradaic efficiency for CO remaining above 90 % and exhibited stable chemical performance over 46 h in CO2RR. This work provides guidance for the development of viable PBI-type AEMs for new energy filed.

Inspired by the tracheid pit structures in plants, this study aims to develop monovalent cation exchange membranes with high selectivity and high flux by precisely constructing ion transport channels. First, template ions are pre-coordinated with polyethyleneimine to bind to the membrane surface, forming a "tracheid pit" temporarily occupied by the template ions. To effectively fill the small gap defects outside the specific ion channels in the modified structure, dopamine is introduced as an adhesive. The Fe3+ accelerates the polymerization of dopamine, co-depositing with the complex formed in the previous step onto the modified layer. Subsequently, crosslinking agents and reducing agents are added to stabilize the overall structure of the modified layer, creating a smooth and complete modified layer between the "tracheid pits". The template ions are then washed away, resulting in the formation of the "tracheid pit" structure. Characterization through scanning electron microscopy, membrane resistance, diffusion tests, and analysis of monovalent selectivity performance confirms that a specific ion transport-containing "pit" modified structure is successfully constructed on the membrane surface using this method. Experimental results indicate that the monovalent selective cation exchange membranes prepared by this method exhibit excellent selectivity, the selectivity of K+/Mg2+, Li+/Mg2+ and Na+/Mg2+ reaches13.1, 9.2, and 11.9, while K+, Li+ and Na+ show high fluxes, which is 0.362 mmol/(m2 center dot s), 0.251 mmol/(m2 center dot s) and 0.378 mmol/(m2 center dot s)), respectively. This study not only provides a novel approach for the preparation of monovalent selective cation exchange membranes but also offers significant technical support for the effective recovery and utilization of monovalent ion resources.

Compared with pure polymeric and inorganic membranes, fillers incorporated hybrid membranes, also known as mixed matrix membranes (MMMs), offer enhanced gas separation capabilities by synergizing the advantageous properties of both matrices and filler materials. In this study, we report the development of a fully organic MMM system composed of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and monodisperse hollow polystyrene (HPS) particles, designed for efficient CO2/CH4 separation. The HPS particles were synthesized via template polymerization, followed by selective template removal to yield uniform, cross-linked spheres with an average diameter of 354 nm. In the pure gas permeation test, compared with neat PDMS membrane, the PDMS/HPS MMM containing 4 wt% HPS particles demonstrated a 259 % increase in CO2 permeability and a 37 % improvement in the ideal CO2/CH4 selectivity. For the CO2/CH4 mixture separation performance test, the MMM demonstrated up to 3.4 times higher CO2 permeability than neat PDMS membranes, with a slight increase in selectivity. The improved performance of gas separation can be attributed to the distinctive hollow structure of the HPS particles, which contributes additional free volume to the membranes, along with the beneficial interface observed between PDMS and HPS particles. These performance enhancements, combined with the use of low-cost, easy solvent-free membrane fabrication and fully organic materials, demonstrate the potential of this approach for industrial gas separation applications such as natural gas purification.

Chirality is a fundamental property in nature, and chiral molecules are closely related to human health and the origin of life. Therefore, the exploration and preparation of optically active compounds of paramount importance. Membrane separation is a large-scale and continuous separation technique that has been developing quickly in recent years. It has many potential applications, particularly in chiral membrane separation technology, which is currently a hotspot for study. Depending on the types of membranes, chiral membranes can be divided into two categories: chiral solid membranes and chiral liquid membranes. Solid membranes outperform the others in terms of better mechanical performance and separation efficiency. This review presents in-depth summaries of chiral solid membranes made of different materials, and their applications in drug separation. It also providing insights into the potential for the future development of chiral solid membranes.

From the perspective of sustainable development, the loose nanofiltration (NF) membrane with high permeability and exceptional separation capabilities for dye/salt mixtures has become increasingly appealing to treating dyeing wastewater. This study presents a novel polysulfone (PSf) loose NF membrane with a gradient structure, prepared via a one-step hybrid induced phase separation (HIPS) method without post-treatment. The sulfolane (SFL) was firstly selected as the diluent for PSf and an asymmetric cross-section structure comprising a bi-continuous main body and thin skin layer could be induced due to the mass transfer between SFL and the coagulation (cold water) during the HIPS process. Then, the pore size of the membrane surface was able to be decreased by using PEG400 as an additive. The results demonstrated that when PSf and PEG400 concentrations were 20 and 2.5 wt%, respectively, the optimized PSf loose NF membrane exhibited a significantly higher pure water permeability (49.53 L/(m(2)hbar)) and a superior rejection of 99.3 % for a small molecular dye (EBT) while letting >90 % of the salts of NaCl and Na2SO4 to permeate. The optimized PSf loose NF membranes displayed stable high dye rejection and a good permeability effect on NaCl during long-term stability testing. Moreover, this study provides a fundamental framework for developing loose NF asymmetric membranes to remove dyes from salt wastewater.

The high-salinity wastewater generated by the textile industry presents a substantial challenge in the effective separation of dyes and inorganic salts, particularly concerning cationic dyes, which pose severe environmental pollution risks. Leveraging the combined effects of size exclusion and electrostatic repulsion, positively charged and loose nanofiltration (LNF) membranes have demonstrated the capability to efficiently reject cationic dyes while ensuring high permeance of inorganic salts. Herein, a new type of positively charged LNF membrane was prepared with trimethylamine (TMA) nucleophilic substitution reaction on the 4-Vinylbenzyl chlorostyrene (VBC)/polysulfone (PSf) chloride-grafted (TMA/VBC-g-PSf) membranes. VBC, a highly reactive small molecule featuring two functional groups (active vinyl (CH2=CH-) and benzyl chloride (C-Cl)), was stably anchored onto the surface of PSf ultrafiltration (UF) membranes via vinyl groups. Furthermore, the C-Cl was nucleophilically replaced by the tertammonium group of TMA, forming a quaternary ammonium layer. Thereby, an ultra-thin positively charged selective layer with micro-convex structure was formed onto the PSf membrane surface, endowing the LNF membrane with ultra permeance and high Na2SO4/Victoria blue B (VB) selectivity. The optimized M-2 membrane, with 0.5 wt% VBC and 30 wt% TMA grafting concentration, yielded both high levels of pure water permeance (186.42 L center dot m-2 center dot h-1 center dot bar-1) and an excellent Na2SO4/VB selectivity of 497.5 (high VB rejection of 99.8 % compared to low Na2SO4 rejection of 0.5 %). After 16 h of continuous operation, the separation efficiency of the M-2 membrane for both mixed solution and single-component solution remained consistent and stable, demonstrating its feasibility and high potential in the field of inorganic salts/cationic dyes separation. This study offers valuable insights into innovative methodologies for the production of LNF membranes tailored for dye wastewater treatment.

With the rapid development of flexible electronic devices, flexible metal-ion batteries have attracted considerable interest. One-dimensional (1D) nanofiber materials fabricated through electrospinning are regarded as excellent candidates for flexible freestanding anodes due to their high specific surface area, short electron transport paths, and excellent flexibility. They demonstrate impressive application potential in meeting the demand for deformation and outstanding electrochemical performance. This comprehensive review delves into their structural design, such as porous, core-shell, hollow, and composite structures, with particular detail on the approaches, polymer combination, and post-treatment methods. We focus on the contribution of different structures to stability, reversible capacity, long-term cycling, and rate performance during the charge/discharge process of the freestanding nanofibrous anodes. We introduce the combination of commonly used silicon-based materials, alloys, metal oxides, and metal sulfides with multi-structure nanofibers used in anodes. The paper explains how this combination overcomes the difficulties encountered by active materials in different types of metal-ion batteries. Finally, the paper concludes and discusses the challenges and prospects of electrospinning for enhancing freestanding anode and flexible metal-ion batteries.

Transfer of electron and proton plays a pivotal role in regulating methanogenic metabolism during anaerobic digestion (AD) of organic wastes. Conductive materials (CMs), including electro-conductive materials (ECM) and proton-conductive materials (PCM), have been employed to modulate interspecies electron transfer (ET) and proton transfer (PT) respectively to facilitate AD. However, systematic reviews have not overviewed how CMs modulate interspecies ET and PT and their roles in enhancing AD. This paper provides comprehensive insights into the roles of CMs-driven interspecies ET and PT in enhancing the methanogenic conversion, including the contributions of ECM-driven interspecies ET to enhancing electron utilization efficiency and inducing microbial interactions and the contributions of PCM-driven interspecies PT to enhancing proton and electron utilization efficiency and reinforcing energy harvesting. Furthermore, the responses of AD performance to CMs-driven interspecies ET/PT have been summarized. The engineering application potential of ECM- and PCM-assisted AD is discussed. Finally, the uncoupled electron and proton transport and the unclear multiple mechanism by which CMs enhance AD are identified as the main knowledge gaps in CMs-assisted AD, and the future efforts, which can focus on developing novel CMs with mixed electron–proton conductivity and establishing the network of materials properties to their effect on AD, are proposed. This review offers a fundamental understanding of the roles of CMs-driven interspecies ET/PT in enhancing AD and provides critical guidance for boosting CMs-assisted AD.