Figure 1

Overall schematic fabrication procedure of functionalised 9 μm thick β-PVDF nanoporous membranes: (a) ₁₃₆Xe⁴⁸⁺ irradiation at 7.46 MeV ⋅ amu⁻¹ under He atmosphere. The black dashed arrow represents the pathway of an ion-projectile. It results in red (track core) and yellow (track halo) zones of radiation-induced defects; (b) nanopores formation by ion-track chemical etching; (c) radiation-grafting of B2MP monomer initiated by remaining intercrystalline trapped radicals from the nanopore walls; FESEM images of (d) cryofracture and (e) top view of a resulting functionalised membrane (fluence: 10⁹ cm⁻²).