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Hierarchically semi-interpenetrating polymer nanofilms for high-performance seawater desalination

Nature Water (2026)Cite this article

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Abstract

Thin-film composite polyamide membranes remain the benchmark for water desalination and purification. However, conventional polyamide membranes are greatly limited by the trade-off between water permeance and ion permselectivity, but also susceptible to chlorine degradation and membrane fouling. Here we addressed these issues by molecularly creating hierarchically structured polymer nanofilms featuring polyamide/polyethylene glycol (PEG) semi-interpenetrating polymer networks (semi-IPN) and interconnected hydrated micropores via macromolecule-regulated interfacial polymerization. This strategy enables controlled synthesis of nanofilms with semi-IPN architectures and tunable subnanometre-scale micropores, spanning reverse osmosis to nanofiltration. The resultant semi-IPN networks synergistically enhance water permeance and ion permselectivity to overcome the intrinsic permeability–selectivity trade-off, but also further provide superior resistance to chlorine, biofouling and mineral scaling and long-term operational stability in seawater desalination, outperforming commercial polyamide membranes. This work offers a robust platform for creating hierarchically ordered polymer networks for high-performance seawater desalination to solve the global water crisis.

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Fig. 1: The structural design and in situ creation of hierarchically structured polymer nanofilms.
Fig. 2: Microstructures and hydration of semi-IPN polymer nanofilms.
Fig. 3: Ion sieving and fouling resistance of semi-IPN polymer nanofilms.
Fig. 4: Mechanism and multiscale chlorine resistance of semi-IPN polymer nanofilms.
Fig. 5: High-efficiency and sustainable seawater desalination using semi-IPN polymer nanofilms.

Data availability

All data that support the findings in the current study are available within the Article and its Supplementary Information. The relevant raw data for each figure are provided as source or supplementary data files. Source data are provided with this paper.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (22375124, 22175114 and 22378374), the Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai (22ZR1429400), the National Science Fund for Excellent Young Scholars (Overseas) (23Z990202541), the High-Level Overseas Talents Introduction Program of Shanghai, the Research Startup Foundation of Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the ‘Green Valley Elite-Innovation Leading Action’ Program of Zhejiang.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Yu Chen, Jia Xu.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Systems Biomedicine (Ministry of Education), Shanghai Center for Systems Biomedicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China

    Yu Chen, Kaiyuan Song, Ziying Li, Baiyang Chen, Qijing Huang, Li Yu & Ruijiao Dong

  2. Key Laboratory of Marine Chemistry Theory and Technology (Ministry of Education), College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China

    Jia Xu

  3. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Frontiers Science Centre for Transformative Molecules, Shanghai Key Laboratory for Molecular Engineering of Chiral Drugs, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China

    Yue Su

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  1. Yu Chen
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Contributions

R.D. conceived and supervised this work. R.D., J.X. and Y.C. designed the experiment. Y.C. synthesized the monomers and membranes. Y.C. performed the membrane filtration experiments and membrane characterizations. Y.C., Z.L., B.C., Q.H., L.Y. and Y.S. carried out the antibacterial test and anti-chlorine test. K.S. performed the MD simulations. R.D., J.X. and Y.C. performed the date analyses. R.D. and Y.C. wrote the manuscript. R.D. revised the whole manuscript. All the authors contributed to the discussion and revision of the content and agreed to the final version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Ruijiao Dong.

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Nature Water thanks the anonymous reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work

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Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary synthesis, methods, Figs. 1–55 and refs. 1–12.

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Source data

Source Data Fig. 1

Statistical source data for the structural design and in situ creation of hierarchically structured polymer nanofilms.

Source Data Fig. 2

Statistical source data for microstructures and hydration of semi-IPN polymer nanofilms.

Source Data Fig. 3

Statistical source data for ion sieving and fouling resistance of semi-IPN polymer nanofilms.

Source Data Fig. 4

Statistical source data for mechanism and multiscale chlorine resistance of semi-IPN polymer nanofilms.

Source Data Fig. 5

Statistical source data for high-efficiency and sustainable seawater desalination using semi-IPN polymer nanofilms.

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Chen, Y., Xu, J., Song, K. et al. Hierarchically semi-interpenetrating polymer nanofilms for high-performance seawater desalination. Nat Water (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44221-025-00577-7

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