Fig. 1: Design concept of membrane material and process. | Nature Communications

Fig. 1: Design concept of membrane material and process.

From: Energy-autonomous KCl extraction from brine via biomimetic covalent-organic-framework membranes and redox-driven ion transport

Fig. 1

a Biological ion channels achieve precise ion selectivity through noncovalent interactions, regulated by the electric potential difference across cell membranes (red: positive potential; blue: negative potential). b Schematic of a 3D COF membrane with subnanometer pores and zwitterionic-like charge distributions (red: positive potential; blue: negative potential). This architecture strengthens valence-dependent short-range interactions and integrates redox pairs, enabling conversion of the salinity gradient into an electric field to drive autonomous ion transport without external energy input.

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