Solvent-Less Vapor-Phase Fabrication of Membranes for Sustainable Separation Processes

Abstract

Sustainable processes for purifying water, capturing carbon, producing biofuels, operating fuel cells, and performing energy-efficient industrial separations will require next-generation membranes. Solvent-less fabrication for membranes not only eliminates potential environmental issues with organic solvents, but also solves the swelling problems that occur with delicate polymer substrates. Furthermore, the activation procedures often required for synthesizing microporous materials such as metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) can be reduced when solvent-less vapor-phase approaches are employed. This perspective covers several vacuum deposition processes, including initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD), initiated plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (iPECVD), solvent-less vapor deposition followed by in situ polymerization (SLIP), atomic layer deposition (ALD), and molecular layer deposition (MLD). These solvent-less vapor-phase methods are powerful in creating ultrathin selective layers for thin-film composite membranes and advantageous in conformally coating nanoscale pores for the precise modification of pore size and internal functionalities. The resulting membranes have shown promising performance for gas separation, nanofiltration, desalination, and water/oil separation. Further development of novel membrane materials and the scaling up of high-throughput reactors for solvent-less vapor-phase processes are necessary in order to make a real impact on the chemical industry in the future.