Porous membranes comprising nanosheets and fabrication thereof

1. A porous membrane comprising stacked layers of porous nanosheets and a plurality of nanodisks disposed between said layers of said porous nanosheets or between adjacent porous nanosheets,

wherein each porous nanosheet consists of one to three atomic layers of a 2D material, the 2D material consisting of one or more transition metal dichalcogenides;

wherein each porous nanosheet has a plurality of randomly distributed pores within the nanosheet, the plurality of pores having diameters in the range from about 10 nm to about 60 nm;

wherein the porous nanosheets have diameters in the range from about 140 nm to about 1600 nm;

wherein the nanodisks consist essentially of one to three atomic layers of a 2D material consisting essentially of one or more transition metal dichalcogenides;

wherein the nanodisks have diameters in the range from about 10 to about 60 nm; and

wherein the membrane comprises a network of water permeation pathways, the pathways comprising pathways through the nanosheets formed by the pores within the nanosheets, horizontal pathways formed by gaps between the layers, and vertical pathways formed by gaps between adjacent nanosheets and stacking defects between the layers.

2. The membrane of claim 1 , wherein the one or more transition metal dichalcogenides are selected from the group consisting of MoS 2 , WS 2 , MoSe 2 , WSe 2 , MoTe 2 , WTe 2 , NbS 2 , ReS 2 , NbSe 2 , ReSe 2 , NbTe 2 , ReTe 2 , NiS 2 , NiSe 2 , NiTe 2 , ZrS 2 , PdS 2 , ZrSe 2 , PdSe 2 , ZrTe 2 , PdTe 2 , TaS 2 , TaSe 2 , TaTe 2 , TiS 2 , TiSe 2 , TiTe 2 , HfS 2 , HfSe 2 , and HfTe 2 .

3. The membrane of claim 1 having a thickness of 5 nm to 5 μm.

4. A porous membrane comprising stacked layers of porous nanosheets and a plurality of nanodisks disposed between said layers of said porous nanosheets or between adjacent porous nanosheets,

wherein each porous nanosheet consists of (i) one to three atomic layers of a 2D material, the 2D material consisting of one or more transition metal dichalcogenides, and (ii) a plurality of amphipathic molecules adsorbed onto the nanosheets via hydrophobic interactions;

wherein each porous nanosheet has a plurality of randomly distributed pores within the nanosheet, the plurality of pores having diameters in the range from about 10 nm to about 60 nm;

wherein the porous nanosheets have diameters in the range from about 140 nm to about 1600 nm;

wherein the nanodisks consist essentially of one to three atomic layers of a 2D material consisting essentially of one or more transition metal dichalcogenides;

wherein the nanodisks have diameters in the range from about 10 to about 60 nm;

wherein the membrane comprises a network of water permeation pathways, the pathways comprising pathways through the nanosheets formed by the pores within the nanosheets, horizontal pathways formed by gaps between the layers, and vertical pathways formed by gaps between adjacent nanosheets and stacking defects between the layers.

5. The membrane of claim 4 , wherein the amphipathic molecules comprise a peptide having both charged and hydrophobic amino acids.

6. The membrane of claim 2 , wherein the 2D material comprises MoS 2 .

7. The membrane of claim 1 that has a water permeance of at least 200 Lm −2 h −1 bar −1 .

8. The membrane of claim 4 that has a rejection rate of charged or uncharged solutes of at least 99%.

9. A porous membrane comprising stacked layers of porous nanosheets and a plurality of nanodisks disposed between said layers of said porous nanosheets or between adjacent porous nanosheets,

wherein each porous nanosheet consists of one to three atomic layers of a 2D material, the 2D material consisting of one or more transition metal dichalcogenides;

wherein each porous nanosheet has a plurality of randomly distributed pores within the nanosheet, the plurality of pores having diameters less than about 10 nm;

wherein the porous nanosheets have diameters in the range from about 140 nm to about 1600 nm;

wherein the nanodisks consist essentially of one to three atomic layers of a 2D material consisting essentially of one or more transition metal dichalcogenides;

wherein the nanodisks have diameters in the range from about 10 to about 60 nm; and

wherein the membrane comprises a network of water permeation pathways, the pathways comprising pathways through the nanosheets formed by the pores within the nanosheets, horizontal pathways formed by gaps between the layers, and vertical pathways formed by gaps between adjacent nanosheets and stacking defects between the layers.