Low-cost nanofabrication of isoporous nanomembranes using hybrid lithography

Rojjanapinun, Akarapan Pagsuyoin Sheree A.; Perman, Jason Sun Hongwei

This work demonstrates an improved route to develop low-cost and robust isoporous polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) nanomembranes for industrial separation and purifications processes. The 4-step process excels at making uniform 100 nm and 20 nm pore membranes that exhibit high flux in both dead-end and cross-flow filtration. Our tests demonstrate that 90–100% rejection rates could be achieved in these membranes for perfluorooctanoic acid, sulfamethoxazole, bovine serum albumin, and SARS-COV-2 in high-concentration aqueous solutions. The membranes are nominally 50 μm thick and retain structural integrity, exhibiting high tensile strengths of 8.56 MPa and 8.31 MPa, respectively, due to improved routes to β crystalline formations of the PVDF. Our useful fabrication procedure is compatible with developed technologies that can quickly expand the opportunities of isoporous PVDF for processing of advanced materials and devices.