A novel membrane with ion-recognizable copolymers in graphene-based nanochannels for facilitated transport of potassium ions

Facilitated transport of K+ ions through membranes is of great significance in both science and technology for the efficient and selective separation of potassium ions. Here, a novel membrane with ion-recognizable copolymers in graphene-based nanochannels is developed for facilitated transport of potassium ions. The poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-benzo-15-crown-5-acrylamide) (PNB) copolymers are fixed in the lamellate spacings between the partially reduced graphene oxide (prGO) nanosheets. The K+ permeability of the fabricated prGO-PNB membrane remarkably increases at around the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of the PNB copolymer, because of the dynamic complexation between B15C5 units and K+ ions at around the LCST. The selectivity of K+/Na+ increases with increasing the content of PNB copolymers in the membrane. The proposed membrane shows good stability in water and K+ separation performance. Due to the uniform channels and facilitated transport mechanism of the prGO-PNB membrane, the comprehensive performance of selectivity and permeability of the K+ ions is better than that of previously reported polymer-based nanofiltration membranes, polymer-based facilitated transport membranes and graphene-based membranes. The proposed strategy of this prGO-PNB membrane that combining graphene-based sheets as “skeleton” and substance-recognizable copolymers as “facilitators” is also applicable to fabricate membranes for facilitated transport of other ions or molecules.