Nanothin polymer films with selective pores and method of use thereof
A method of preparing nanothin polymer films having uniform and selectively sized pores utilizing pore forming templates. Lipids and pore forming templates are dissolved into a first solution. The solvent is removed thereby creating a lipid bilayer with pore forming templates dispersed throughout. The bilayer is hydrated and monomers and crosslinkers are added to create a second solution. A nanothin film with pore forming templates is created through polymerization of said second solution. The pore forming templates are dissolved into a third solution by addition of a chemical in which the pore forming template is soluble, but the lipid bilayer is insoluble. This third solution is separated from the mixture leaving a nanothin polymer film with pores of a uniform thickness and surface area. In summary, the guided assembly method presented here suggests a new general strategy for the fabrication of nanothin materials with controlled permeability, which provides improvements over the currently existing technology.
1. A membrane comprising: a polymer film having a plurality of pores defined solely by the polymer film, the pores having a uniform size, wherein the polymer film has a thickness of from about 1 nm to about 1.5 nm, and the polymer film consists of styrene-divinylbenzene.
2. The membrane of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of pores are sized such that the plurality of pores permit passage of particles having a smallest cross-section of about 0.6 nm and smaller.
3. The membrane of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of pores are sized such that the plurality of pores permit passage of particles having a smallest cross-section of about 1.1 nm and smaller.
4. The membrane of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of pores are sized such that the plurality of pores retain particles having a smallest cross-section of about 1.1 nm in size and larger.
5. The membrane of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of pores are sized such that the plurality of pores retain particles having a smallest cross-section of about 1.6 nm in size and larger.
6. A polymer film having a thickness from about 1 nm to about 1.5 nm and a plurality of pores having a uniform size, the polymer film consisting of styrene-divinylbenzene.
7. The polymer film of claim 6 , wherein the plurality of pores are sized such that the plurality of pores permit passage of particles having a smallest cross-section of about 0.6 nm and smaller.
8. The polymer film of claim 6 , wherein the plurality of pores are sized such that the plurality of pores permit passage of particles having a smallest cross-section of about 1.1 nm and smaller.
9. The polymer film of claim 6 , wherein the plurality of pores are sized such that the plurality of pores retain particles having a smallest cross-section of about 1.1 nm in size and larger.
10. The polymer film of claim 6 , wherein the plurality of pores are sized such that the plurality of pores retain particles having a smallest cross-section of about 1.6 nm in size and larger.
11. A method of using a polymer film capsule with pores defined solely by the polymer film of claim 6 , the method comprising:
separating a mixture of chemicals having variable surface areas from the polymer film capsule by using a size exclusion column;
collecting the polymer film capsule eluate from the size exclusion column; and
determining a content of chemicals retained in the polymer film capsule by using UV/vis spectroscopy.