Fine Tuning Hydrophobicity of Counter-Anions to Tailor Pore Size in Porous All-Poly(ionic liquid) Membranes

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that by systematically increasing the hydrophobicity of counter-anions in poly(ionic liquid)s, researchers can precisely control the pore size and wettability of charged porous polymer membranes, enabling tailored functionalities.

Contribution

The paper introduces a method to finely tune pore size and wettability of CPMs by selecting specific counter-anions with varying hydrophobicity, a novel approach in membrane fabrication.

Findings

Pore size decreases from 1546 nm to 77 nm with increasing anion hydrophobicity.

Water contact angle increases from 90° to 120° as anion hydrophobicity increases.

Systematic anion variation effectively controls membrane structure and surface properties.

Abstract

Charged porous polymer membranes (CPMs) emerging as a multifunctional platform for diverse applications in chemistry, materials science, and biomedicine have been attracting widespread attention. Fabrication of CPMs in a controllable manner is of particular significance for optimizing their function and maximizing practical values. Herein, we report the fabrication of CPMs exclusively from poly(ionic liquid)s (PILs), and their pore size and wettability were precisely tailored by rational choice of the counteranions. Specifically, stepwise subtle increase in hydrophobicity of the counteranions by extending the length of fluorinated alkyl substituents, i.e. from bis(trifluoromethane sulfonyl)imide (Tf2N) to bis(pentafluoroethane sulfonyl)imide (Pf2N) and bis(heptafluoropropane sulfonyl)imide (Hf2N), decreases the average pore size gradually from 1546 nm to 157 nm and 77 nm, respectively. Meanwhile, their corresponding water contact angles increased from 90 degree to 102 degree and 120o. The exquisite control over the porous architectures and surface wettability of CPMs by systematic variation of the anion's hydrophobicity provides a solid proof of the impact of the PIL anions on CPMs' structure.