Beyond nothingness in the formation and functional relevance of voids in polymer films

Voids-the nothingness-broadly exist within nanomaterials and impact properties ranging from catalysis to mechanical response. However, understanding nanovoids is challenging due to lack of imaging methods with the needed penetration depth and spatial resolution. Here, we integrate electron tomograph...

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Published inNature communications Vol. 15; no. 1; p. 2852
Main Authors Kalutantirige, Falon C, He, Jinlong, Yao, Lehan, Cotty, Stephen, Zhou, Shan, Smith, John W, Tajkhorshid, Emad, Schroeder, Charles M, Moore, Jeffrey S, An, Hyosung, Su, Xiao, Li, Ying, Chen, Qian
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England Nature Publishing Group 11.04.2024
Nature Portfolio
Subjects
Catalysis
Catalysts
Coalescence
Graph theory
Graphs
Imaging techniques
Material properties
Mechanical analysis
Membranes
Molecular dynamics
Morphometry
Nanomaterials
Nanotechnology
Penetration depth
Polyamide resins
Polyamides
Polymer films
Polymers
Reluctance
Rigidity
Spatial discrimination
Spatial resolution
Tomography
Voids
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Summary:Voids-the nothingness-broadly exist within nanomaterials and impact properties ranging from catalysis to mechanical response. However, understanding nanovoids is challenging due to lack of imaging methods with the needed penetration depth and spatial resolution. Here, we integrate electron tomography, morphometry, graph theory and coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulation to study the formation of interconnected nanovoids in polymer films and their impacts on permeance and nanomechanical behaviour. Using polyamide membranes for molecular separation as a representative system, three-dimensional electron tomography at nanometre resolution reveals nanovoid formation from coalescence of oligomers, supported by coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations. Void analysis provides otherwise inaccessible inputs for accurate fittings of methanol permeance for polyamide membranes. Three-dimensional structural graphs accounting for the tortuous nanovoids within, measure higher apparent moduli with polyamide membranes of higher graph rigidity. Our study elucidates the significance of nanovoids beyond the nothingness, impacting the synthesis‒morphology‒function relationships of complex nanomaterials.
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SC0022035
USDOE
ISSN:2041-1723
2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/s41467-024-46584-2