Membranes are porous materials with lateral dimensions much greater than their thickness, through which selective mass transfer occurs under a variety of driving forces. Our research is focused on the development of high-performance and multifunctional composite membranes for water treatment, recovery of organic solvents, and battery separators. 

1. Polymeric composite nanofiltration membranes

In view of the key problems of “trade-off” effects between selectivity and permeability of composite nanofiltration membranes, an oxidation-mediated aqueous deposition strategy was proposed to fabricate ultrathin and homoporous metal-polyphenol network (MPN) selective layers for nanofiltration, realizing the precise control of pore size and thickness at a sub-nanometer scale. Furthermore, mesoporous nanoparticles such as hollow MOFs were introduced into the MPN selective layer to form nanocomposite structures and thus improve the permeability and mechanical properties simultaneously.

2. Porous polymeric nanosheets-based composite membranes

The interlayer nanochannels in 2D membranes are long and tortuous, leading to low water permeances. We proposed a solvent triggered 2D assembly strategy to synthesize porous polymeric nanosheets and further developed porous polymeric nanosheets-based composite membranes with short and straight water channels. Moreover, the interlayer spacings can be precisely manipulated by adjusting interlayer chemical bonds, endowing the membranes with high permeselectivity and good stablity.

3. Functional polymer nanocomposite separators

To address the issues such as side reactions at the electrode - electrolyte interface in lithium metal batteries, polymer nanocomposite membranes with surface ion-selective features and homogenized pore sizes have been developed, which can provide dual functions of high ion conductivity and the efficient inhibition of interface side reactions simultaneously. Therefore, they show great potentials in applications of high-performance flexible energy storage devices.

Representive publications：

1. Y. Z. Chen, Y. T. Bai, L. J. Meng, W. T. Zhang, J. J. Xia, Z. M. Xu, R. Sun, Y. Lv*, T. X. Liu*. Engineering nanocomposite metal-phenolic network membranes with hollow MOFs via in-situ etching for high-efficiency organic solvent nanofiltration. Chem. Eng. J. 2022, 437, 135289.

2. L. J. Meng, J. Mansouri, X. S. Li, J. X. Liang, M. H. Huang*, Y. Lv*, Z. W. Wang, V. Chen. Omniphobic membrane via bioinspired silicification for the treatment of RO concentrate by membrane distillation. J. Membr. Sci. 2022, 647, 120267.

3. C. Feng, K. Q. Ou, Z. P. Zhang, Y. P. Liu, Y. P. Huang, Z. C. Wang, Y. Lv, Y. E. Miao, Y. Wang, Q. Q. Lan*, T. X. Liu*. Dual-layered covalent organic framework/MXene membranes with short paths for fast water treatment. J. Membr. Sci. 2022, 658, 120761.

4. S. J. Zheng, X. B. Zhu, Y. Ouyang, K. Chen, A. L. Chen, X. S. Fan, Y. E. Miao*, T. X. Liu, Y. Xie*. Metal-organic framework decorated polymer nanofiber composite separator for physiochemically shielding polysulfides in stable lithium-sulfur batteries. Energy & Fuels 2021, 35, 19154.

5. Q. Q. Lan, C. Feng, Z. C. Wang, L. Li, Y. Wang*, T. X. Liu*. Chemically laminating graphene oxide nanosheets with phenolic nanomeshes for robust membranes with fast desalination. Nano Lett. 2021, 21, 8236.

6. Q. Q. Lan, C. Feng, K. Q. Ou, Z. C. Wang, Y. Wang*, T. X. Liu*. Phenolic membranes with tunable sub-10-nm pores for nanofiltration and tight-ultrafiltration. J. Membr. Sci. 2021, 640, 119858.

7. Q. Q. Lan, Z. P. Zhang, F. Xu, M. J. Wei, Y. Wang*. Nanomeshes with sub-10 nm pores by glycerol-triggered 2D assembly in liquid phases for fast and selective membranes. Nano Lett. 2021, 21, 3302.

8. C. Y. Zhou, J. Wang, X. B. Zhu, K. Chen, Y. Ouyang, Y. Wu, Y. E. Miao*, T. X. Liu. A dual-functional poly(vinyl alcohol)/poly(lithium acrylate) composite nanofiber separator for ionic shielding of polysulfides enables high-rate and ultra-stable Li-S batteries. Nano Research 2021, 14, 1541.

9. Y. Lv*, J. J. Xia, Y. Yang, Y. Z. Chen, T. X. Liu. Thin-film composite membranes with mineralized nanofiber supports for highly efficient nanofiltration. Compos. Commun. 2021, 24, 100695.

10. Y. Y. Chen, G. Y. Zhou, W. Zong, Y. Ouyang, K. Chen, Y. Lv*, Y. E. Miao*, T. X. Liu*. Porous polymer composite separators with three-dimensional ion-selective nanochannels for high-performance Li-S batteries. Compos. Commun. 2021, 25, 100679.

11. G. Y. Zhou, L. L. Mo, C. Y.  Zhou, Y. Lv*, Y. E. Miao*, T. X. Liu*. Flexible naphthalene-based polyimide nanofiber cathode with hierarchical micro/nanoporous structure for high-performance organic sodium-ion batteries. Compos. Commun. 2020, 22, 100490.

12. X. B. Zhu, Y. Ouyang, J. W. Chen, X. G. Zhu, X. Luo, F. L. Lai, H. Zhang, Y. E. Miao*, T. X. Liu. In-situ extracted poly(acrylic acid) contributing to electrospun nanofiber separators with precisely tuned pore structures for ultra-stable lithium-sulfur batteries. J. Mater. Chem. A 2019, 7, 3253.

13. Q. Q. Lan, Y. Wang*. Carbonization of gradient phenolics filled in macroporous substrates for high-flux tight membranes: Toward ultrafiltration of polypeptides. J. Membr. Sci. 2019, 590, 117309.

14. Q. Q. Lan, Y. Z. Yang, L. M. Guo, Y. Wang*. Gradient nanoporous phenolics filled in macroporous substrates for highly permeable ultrafiltration. J. Membr. Sci. 2019, 576, 123.

15. Y. Lv, S. J. Yang, Y. Du, H. C. Yang, Z. K. Xu*. Co-deposition kinetics of polydopamine/polyethyleneimine coatings: Effects of solution composition and substrate surface. Langmuir 2018, 34, 13123.

16. Y. Lv, Y. Du, Z. X. Chen, W. Z. Qiu, Z. K. Xu*. Nanocomposite membranes of polydopamine/electropositive nanoparticles/polyethyleneimine for nanofiltration. J. Membr. Sci. 2018, 545, 99.

17. X. Luo, X. B. Lu, G. Y. Zhou, X. Y. Zhao, Y. Ouyang, X. B. Zhu, Y. E. Miao*, T. X. Liu. Ion-selective polyamide acid nanofiber separators for high-rate and stable lithium-sulfur batteries. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2018, 10, 42198.

18. Q. Q. Lan, Z. G. Wang, Y. Wang*. Mesoporous phenolics filled in macroporous membranes for tunable tight-ultrafiltration. Chem. Eng. Sci. 2018, 187, 98.

19. Y. Lv, C. Zhang, A. He, S.J. Yang, G. P. Wu*, S. B. Darling*, Z. K. Xu*. Photocatalytic nanofiltration membranes with self-cleaning property for wastewater treatment. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2017, 27, 1700251.

20. Q. Q. Lan, N. N. Yan, Y. Wang*. Tight ultrafiltration membranes of mesoporous phenolic resin filled in macroporous substrates. J. Membr. Sci. 2017, 533, 96.