Nanoporous polymer networks can help advance the next generation of catalytic technologies. In a paper authored by Dr. Keira Culley, in which I assisted with X-ray scattering experiments, we see the realm of possibilities offered by highly ordered lyotropic networks. Cubic networks made of lyotropic materials, as evidenced by previous work, can exhibit size-discrimination. If the catalytic site is within the membrane, you can selectively allow some reactions to take place while having some species selectively removed.
This work is the first example that we can find of a successful size discrimination-based heterogeneous catalysis in a nanoporous lyotropic polymer, allowing some alcohol degradations to occur, but not others. As seen in the figure below, the biggest alcohol (in blue) does not convert at all, while the alcohols below the size limit of the pores in the resin used can nearly complete the reaction.
I think that this is a worthy future direction, though the priorities for future research will be in reducing cost of materials and improving the mechanical properties. The elution rate of the membrane materials can be quite slow, so they need to be able to handle highly pressurized system or to be spuncoat in very thin layers.
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