Efficient ion sieving and ion transport properties in sub-nanoporous polyetherimide membranes

Ion separation has great potential in a variety of applications, including water treatment, energy conversion, and resource recovery. The sub-nanoporous polymeric membranes prepared by track-UV method has good prospects for ion separation. However, the ion selectivity of reported sub-nanoporous membranes is still not ideal. In this study, we prepared sub-nanoporous polyetherimide membranes. The sub-nanometer gaps on the membrane exhibit a unique monovalent ion selective transport. The selectivity attributes to the dehydration energy barrier of ions and the interaction between ions and surface charge. The single salt electrodialysis experiments showed that the ideal selectivity of K+/Mg2+ was as high as 8900, and the potassium ion flux was 0.49 mol h−1 m−2. In addition, the membrane showed a K+/Li+ selectivity of up to 6 and a K+/Mg2+ selectivity of 67 under mixed salt conditions. This work provides a valuable insight into the future large-scale and expedited production of sub-nanoporous membranes featuring exceptional ion separation performance.