Abstract
Nanofiltration (NF) is a key membrane separation technology that is promising in various chemical and environmental applications. The need for high-performance thin-film composite (TFC) NF membranes, particularly those with enhanced salt selectivity and fouling resistance, necessitates effective strategies for optimizing their fabrication processes—interfacial polymerization (IP). In this study, we demonstrate an effective strategy for fine-tuning of IP process through integrating lyotropic liquid crystals (LLCs), which self-assemble into an interlayer with hexagonal structure on substrates. Performing IP on the LLC-coated substrates leads to the formation of polyamide with characteristic tubular structure. Compared with conventional TFC membranes, the LLC-modulated TFC membranes display doubled water permeability while preserving comparable Na2SO4 selectivity, thereby achieving an enhanced water/salt selectivity. Moreover, these membranes demonstrate high ion/ion selectivity (e.g., Na+/Ca2+ and Li+/Mg2+) and enhanced fouling resistance, rendering them highly desirable for various separation processes. Further exploration into interfacial structures and mechanisms reveals the pivotal role of the LLC-interlayers in affecting the diffusion of the diamine monomer (i.e., piperazine), thereby resulting in the polyamide layer with the distinctive tubular structure and improved separation properties. Our results highlight the promise and potential of utilizing interlayers with self-assembled structures for creating high-performance NF membranes.
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The data that supports the findings of the study are included in the main text and supplementary information files. Raw data can be obtained from the corresponding author upon request. Source data are provided with this paper.
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Acknowledgements
We gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52170094) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities. We thank the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility of BL16B1 and BL10U1, and the National Facility for Protein Science in Shanghai of BL19U2 for the assistance on SAXS and WAXS measurements. Some material characterization for this study was carried out at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) Center for Micro- and Nanoscale Research and Fabrication, and the Instruments Center for Physical Science at USTC. The computational analysis involving molecular dynamics simulation was conducted at the Supercomputing Center at USTC.
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X.L. conceived the initial idea. X.L. and F.X. designed the experiments. F.X. carried out the experiments. X.L., X.F., and Y.Y. provided insights into characterization and data analysis. F.X. and X.L. wrote the first draft, and X.L. edited the manuscript. All the authors discussed the results.
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Xu, F., Yang, Y., Feng, X. et al. Self-assembled lyotropic liquid crystal interlayer regulated interfacial polymerization for modulating structure and performance of nanofiltration membranes. Nat Commun (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-68116-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-68116-2
