Self-assembled Isoporous Membranes: From Ordered Block Copolymer Nanopores to Integrated Transport Channels

doi:10.1007/s40242-026-6149-2

Abstract

Abstract: Self-assembly provides a unique route to polymer membranes with ordered pores and narrow pore-size distributions for liquid-phase separations. Nonsolvent-induced phase separation (NIPS) is simple and scalable, but the resulting pores are often broad in size and random in connectivity. The self-assembly and nonsolvent-induced phase separation (SNIPS) process for block copolymers combines nanoscale ordering with phase inversion and can form an isoporous selective layer and a porous support in one casting step. The self-assembly and block etching (SABE) route creates ordered block copolymer (BCP) precursors followed by selective removal of a sacrificial block. Polymerization-induced microphase separation (PIMS) forms emergent block-copolymer nanostructures during polymerization, and after removal of a sacrificial domain, it yields crosslinked porous networks and is discussed as a BCP-derived boundary route rather than an intrinsically isoporous-membrane route. Pristine BCP pores separate mainly by size sieving, while charged, responsive, crosslinked, and inorganically modified pore walls add ion selectivity, molecular recognition, and fouling resistance. When incorporated into polymer matrices, protein and artificial channels can provide well-defined transport pathways with molecular-level selectivity. The distinct contribution of this review is to connect pore formation, pore-wall chemistry, and channel integration within a unified framework for designing transport pathways with controlled geometry, chemical interactions, and stability.

Key words: Block copolymer, Isoporous membrane, Pore engineering, Artificial channel, Membrane separation, Nanoporous membrane

JI Changxing, LIN Yangyang, LANG Chao. Self-assembled Isoporous Membranes: From Ordered Block Copolymer Nanopores to Integrated Transport Channels[J]. Chemical Research in Chinese Universities, 2026, 42(5): 1394-1407.

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