1.D.240. The Polymeric Nanofluidic Membrane (PNM) Family
Polymeric nanofluidic membranes for efficient ionic transport has been engineered, and the biomimetic design, material construction, and advanced functionalities have been described (Chen et al. 2022). Design elements extracted from biological ion channels guide the engineering of artificial nanofluidic membranes for efficient ionic transport and spawn biomimetic devices with potential in many cutting-edge areas. In this context, polymeric nanofluidic membranes can be especially attractive because of their inherent flexibility and benign processability, which facilitate massive fabrication and facile device integration for large-scale applications. The state-of-the-art achievements of polymeric nanofluidic membranes have been systematically summarized (Chen et al. 2022). Theoretical fundamentals underlying both biological and synthetic ion channels were first introduced, and then the advances of engineering polymeric nanofluidic membranes were then detailed from aspects of structural design, material construction, and chemical functionalization, emphasizing their broad chemical and reticular/topological variety as well as considerable property tunability. This review expands on examples of evolving these polymeric membranes into macroscopic devices and their potentials in addressing compelling issues in energy conversion and storage systems where efficient ion transport is highly desirable. Finally, a brief outlook on possible future developments in this field is provided (Chen et al. 2022).