Abstract
The asymmetrical and seamless Covalent organic framework (COF)-mixed matrix membranes (COF-MMMs) extending over the centimeter scale for highly efficient H2/CO2 separation are fabricated via a non-solvent induced phase separation (NIPS)-triggered in situ interfacial polymerization (IP) strategy. Here, a dense and ultrathin COF membrane (15–30 nm thick) is fabricated on the surface of the Polyether sulfone (PES) skin layer, and isolated COF nanocrystals (4–8 nm) are formed and highly dispersed inside the PES matrix through in situ interfacial polymerization. No interfacial defects are detected between the COF nanocrystals and the PES matrix. The COF-MMMs exhibit H2/CO2 selectivity of 88.8 ± 2.46 at an ambient temperature of 298 K, while maintaining a high H2 permeance of 2738 ± 58.02 GPU. This study proposes a facile strategy to fabricate large-scale high-performance COF-MMMs for gas separation.
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Acknowledgements
This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 22169015), the Natural Science Foundation of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (Grant No. 2021AAC02003) and the Innovation Group Project of Ningxia Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. 2024AAC01002). We would like to thank Weitao Xia and Peng Wang at the Analytical and Testing Center of Ningxia University for their assistance with SEM (Hitachi SU5000 SEM) and XRD (Bruker D8 Advance A25) analysis. We would like to thank Beishide, Beijing, China, for the porosity test (BSD-TD Automatic True Density Analyzer) and pore size analysis (BSD-PB Comprehensive Membrane Pore Size Analyzer).
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L.H.Q. and Z.W. conceived the research. L.H.Q. designed and performed experiments. L.H.Q.(Li-Hua Qi), T.H.Z., and L.H.(Ling Huang) performed the characterization and results analysis. L.H.Q., and Z.M.F. assisted with the figure production and experiment design. L.H.Q. design the theoretical calculation. L.H.Q., Z.W., S.P.W., and H.T.W. wrote and edited the manuscript. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.
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Qi, LH., Wang, Z., Zhang, TH. et al. Asymmetrical covalent organic framework mixed matrix membranes for highly efficient gas separation. Nat Commun (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-68790-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-68790-w
