Guanidinium‐Based Covalent Organic Framework Membranes for Superior Mono‐ and Divalent Cations Separation
Xin Liu, Weibin Lin, Khozama Bader Al Mohawes, Niveen M. Khashab
Abstract
Biological membranes exhibit extraordinary efficiency in processing ion permeability and selectivity. However, creating artificial membranes for an ideal ion separation is still challenging due to the subtle distinctions in valence and size among different ions. In the realm of biological recognition, the ultimate selectivity of ion channels is considered to stem from the specific binding interactions and appropriate charge density. Designing artificial membranes to achieve similar performance not only helps the understanding of complex ion transport in bioprocesses but also facilitates critical industrial separations. Inspiring by the remarkable performance in biological systems, a guanidinium‐based covalent organic framework membrane is designed, which exhibits an excellent capability to recognize mono‐/divalent cations, achieving K + /Mg 2+ selectivity up to 202 in a mixed salt solution. Furthermore, the membrane displays rapid ion transport owing to the uniform sub‐2 nm channels. The experimental results and molecular dynamics simulations illustrate that the charge‐assisted hydrogen bonding sites and the Cl − counter ions within 1D channels play critical roles in cations sieving. Specifically, divalent ions passing through the positively charged channels need to overcome higher energy barriers than monovalent ions. These findings offer promising avenues for the development of advanced multifunctional membranes for efficient ion separation and sustainable water‐related separations.