%0 Journal Article
%T Precisely Patterned Nanostrand Surface of Cucurbituril[n]-Based Nanofiltration Membranes for Effective Alcohol-Water Condensation.
%A Tang MJ
%A Liu ML
%A Wang DA
%A Shao DD
%A Wang HJ
%A Cui Z
%A Cao XL
%A Sun SP
%J Nano Lett
%V 20
%N 4
%D 04 2020 8
%M 32207960
%F 12.262
%R 10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c00344
%X Low concentration alcohols produced by state-of-the-art biological fermentation restrict subsequent purification processes for chemical, pharmaceutical, biofuel, and other applications. Herein, a rarely reported cucurbituril[n] (n = 6, 8) is employed to pattern the thin-film composite membranes with controllable and quantifiable nanostrand structures through a host-guest strategy. The resulting nanofiltration membrane with such morphology is the first report that exhibits excellent separation performance for isopropyl alcohol (IPA) and water, condensing the initial 0.5 wt % IPA aqueous solution to 9.0 wt %. This not only provides a novel strategy for patterning nanostructural morphology but also makes nanofiltration membranes promising for alcohol condensation in the biological fermentation industry that may reduce energy consumption and postprocessing costs.