Block Copolymer Hollow Fiber Membranes with Catalytic Activity and pH-Response

• Published in: ACS applied materials & interfaces Vol. 5; no. 15; pp. 7001 - 7006
• Main Authors: Hilke, Roland, Pradeep, Neelakanda, Madhavan, Poornima, Vainio, Ulla, Behzad, Ali Reza, Sougrat, Rachid, Nunes, Suzana P, Peinemann, Klaus-Viktor
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 14.08.2013
• Subjects: Aminophenols - chemistry; Biotechnology - methods; Catalysis; Gold; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Materials Testing; Membranes, Artificial; Metal Nanoparticles - chemistry; Nanotechnology - methods; Nitrophenols - chemistry; Polymers - chemistry; Scattering, Radiation; Scattering, Small Angle; Solubility; Solvents - chemistry; Surface Properties; Temperature; Ultraviolet Rays; Viscosity; X-Rays; block copolymer; self-assembly; catalysis; filtration; membrane; hollow fiber
• ISSN: 1944-8244; 1944-8252
• DOI: 10.1021/am401163h

We fabricated block copolymer hollow fiber membranes with self-assembled, shell-side, uniform pore structures. The fibers in these membranes combined pores able to respond to pH and acting as chemical gates that opened above pH 4, and catalytic activity, achieved by the incorporation of gold nanoparticles. We used a dry/wet spinning process to produce the asymmetric hollow fibers and determined the conditions under which the hollow fibers were optimized to create the desired pore morphology and the necessary mechanical stability. To induce ordered micelle assembly in the doped solution, we identified an ideal solvent mixture as confirmed by small-angle X-ray scattering. We then reduced p-nitrophenol with a gold-loaded fiber to confirm the catalytic performance of the membranes.