Abstract
Block copolymers are known for their intricate morphology. We review the state of the art of block copolymer membranes and discuss perspectives in this field. The main focus is on pore morphology tuning with a short introduction on non-porous membranes. The two main strategies for pore formation in block copolymer membranes are (i) film casting and selective block sacrifice and (ii) self-assembly and non-solvent induced phase separation (SNIPS). Different fundamental aspects involved in the manufacture of block copolymer membranes are considered, including factors affecting the equilibrium morphology in solid films, self-assembly of copolymer in solutions and macrophase separation by solvent-non-solvent exchange. Different mechanisms are proposed for different depths of the SNIPS membrane. Block copolymer membranes can be prepared with much narrower pore size distribution than homopolymer membranes. Open questions and indications of what we consider the next development steps are finally discussed. They include the synthesis and application of new copolymers and specific functionalization, adding characteristics to respond to stimuli and chemical environment, polymerization-induced phase separation, and the manufacture of organic-inorganic hybrids.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 2905-2916 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Macromolecules |
| Volume | 49 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 22 2016 |
Bibliographical note
KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01Acknowledgements: The work on block copolymer membranes at the Nanostructured Polymeric Membranes Lab has been sponsored by the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), particularly by the URF/1/1671 CRG2 grant. The author thanks Prof. Klaus Peinemann, who introduced the idea of block copolymer membranes prepared by SNIPS, for constant and valuable discussions in this field, as well as our co-workers at KAUST dedicated to block copolymer research.