Nanofiber-interwoven gel membranes with tunable 3D-interconnected transport channels for efficient CO2 separation

Hao-Nan Li, Ze-Yu Sun, Zhen-Jie Yu, Kexin Man, Chao Zhang () and Zhi-Kang Xu ()
Additional contact information
Hao-Nan Li: Zhejiang University
Ze-Yu Sun: Zhejiang University
Zhen-Jie Yu: Zhejiang University
Kexin Man: Zhejiang University
Chao Zhang: Zhejiang University
Zhi-Kang Xu: Zhejiang University

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) capable of breaking the permeability-selectivity trade-off suffer from the inefficient and disconnected bulky transport channels as well as inferior interfacial compatibility between nanomaterials and polymers. Herein, we propose an original photothermal-triggered in-situ gelation approach to elaborate an original class of MMMs, termed nanofiber-interwoven gel membranes (NIGMs) that feature tunable 3D-interconnected ultrafast transport channels and highly-selective CO2-philic gel for boosting CO2 separation performance. The key design of NIGMs lies in leveraging dual functions of CNT-interwoven skeleton: (1) serving as a photothermal confined reactor that rapidly triggers in-situ gelation of highly-selective CO2-philic gel without phase separation-induced interfacial defects to construct defect-free and thickness-controllable NIGMs; (2) functioning as a 3D-interconnected continuous skeleton for providing ultrafast CO2 transport channels. By orchestrating the distribution and configuration of interwoven nanofibers, the NIGMs possess a boosted CO2 permeance of 211.0 GPU increased by 1558% over polymeric gel counterparts and an ultrahigh CO2/N2 and CO2/CH4 selectivity of up to 151 and 47 respectively. Our work offers a paradigm shift in developing advanced MMMs beyond gas separation.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-63502-2 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-63502-2

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-63502-2

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().