Volume 135, Issue 40 e202309918
Forschungsartikel

Charging Metal-Organic Framework Membranes by Incorporating Crown Ethers to Capture Cations for Ion Sieving

Dr. Jiang Li

Dr. Jiang Li

Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Anesthesiology and Brain Functional Modulation, Shanghai Fourth People's Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200434 P. R. China

School of Materials Science and Engineering, School of Water and Environment, Chang'an University, Xian, 710062 P. R. China

These authors contributed equally to this work.

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Yayun Shi

Yayun Shi

State Key Laboratory of Clean and Efficient Coal Utilization, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan, 030024 P. R. China

These authors contributed equally to this work.

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Chenyang Qi

Chenyang Qi

School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 201804 P. R. China

These authors contributed equally to this work.

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Bowen Zhang

Bowen Zhang

School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240 P. R. China

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Prof. Xiwen Xing

Prof. Xiwen Xing

Department of Biotechnology, College of Life Science and Technology, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632 P. R. China

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Prof. Yuliang Li

Corresponding Author

Prof. Yuliang Li

School of Materials Science and Engineering, School of Water and Environment, Chang'an University, Xian, 710062 P. R. China

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Tongdan Chen

Tongdan Chen

School of Materials Science and Engineering, School of Water and Environment, Chang'an University, Xian, 710062 P. R. China

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Xingnuo Mao

Xingnuo Mao

School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240 P. R. China

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Prof. Zhijun Zuo

Prof. Zhijun Zuo

State Key Laboratory of Clean and Efficient Coal Utilization, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan, 030024 P. R. China

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Dr. Xiaoli Zhao

Dr. Xiaoli Zhao

School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 201804 P. R. China

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Prof. Zhenghui Pan

Prof. Zhenghui Pan

School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 201804 P. R. China

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Prof. Libo Li

Prof. Libo Li

State Key Laboratory of Clean and Efficient Coal Utilization, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan, 030024 P. R. China

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Prof. Xiaowei Yang

Corresponding Author

Prof. Xiaowei Yang

Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Anesthesiology and Brain Functional Modulation, Shanghai Fourth People's Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200434 P. R. China

School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 201804 P. R. China

School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240 P. R. China

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Prof. Cheng Li

Corresponding Author

Prof. Cheng Li

Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Anesthesiology and Brain Functional Modulation, Shanghai Fourth People's Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200434 P. R. China

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First published: 15 August 2023

Abstract

Protein channels on the biofilm conditionally manipulate ion transport via regulating the distribution of charge residues, making analogous processes on artificial membranes a hot spot and challenge. Here, we employ metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) membrane with charge-adjustable subnano-channel to selectively govern ion transport. Various valent ions are binded with crown ethers embedded in the MOF cavity, which act as charged guest to regulate the channels’ charge state from the negativity to positivity. Compared with the negatively charged channel, the positive counterpart obviously enhances Li+/Mg2+ selectivity, which benefit from the reinforcement of the electrostatic repulsion between ions and the channel. Meanwhile, theoretical calculations reveal that Mg2+ transport through the more positively charged channel needed to overcome higher entrance energy barrier than that of Li+. This work provides a subtle strategy for ion-selective transport upon regulating the charge state of insulating membrane, which paves the way for the application like seawater desalination and lithium extraction from salt lakes.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available in the supplementary material of this article.

The full text of this article hosted at iucr.org is unavailable due to technical difficulties.