Article abstract
Nature Materials 3, 337 - 341 (2004)
doi:10.1038/nmat1107
Subject Categories: Composites | Catalytic materials | Nanoscale materials | Porous materials
Self-assembly of a silica–surfactant nanocomposite in a porous alumina membrane
Akira Yamaguchi1,2, Fumiaki Uejo1, Takashi Yoda1, Tatsuya Uchida1,3, Yoshihiko Tanamura1,4, Tomohisa Yamashita1 and Norio Teramae1,2
Abstract
A mesoporous membrane composed of nanochannels with a uniform diameter has a potential use for precise size-exclusive separation of molecules. Here, we report a novel method to form a hybrid membrane composed of silica–surfactant nanocomposite and a porous alumina membrane, by which size-selective transport of molecules across the membrane becomes possible. The nanocomposite formed inside each columnar alumina pore was an assembly of surfactant-templated silica-nanochannels with a channel diameter of 3.4 nm; the channel direction being predominantly oriented along the wall of the columnar alumina pore. Molecules could be transported across the membrane including the silica–surfactant nanocomposite with a capability of nanometre-order size-exclusive separation. Our proposed membrane system has a potential use not only for separation science, but also catalysis and chip technologies.
- Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, Tohoku University, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8578, Japan
- CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), Sendai 980-8578, Japan
- Present Address: School of Life Science, Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Science, Hachioji 190-0392, Japan
- Present Address: Research Institute for Electronic Science, Hokkaido University, Kita-ku, Sapporo 001-0021, Japan.
Correspondence to: Norio Teramae1,2 e-mail: tera@anal.chem.tohoku.ac.jp
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