High-Throughput| Large-Area Fabrication of Robust, Foldable MOF/ANFMembrane

Challenge: Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) exhibit great potential in salinity gradient energy harvesting due to their remarkable permeability. However, MOF-based membranes are severely limited in practical applications due to poor flexibility and small fabrication areas.

Method: A team led by Researcher Zhou Yahong from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Professor Teng Chao from Qingdao University of Science and Technology developed a strategy to in-situ grow continuous rigid MOF particles on both sides of a flexible polymer substrate. They successfully fabricated a large-area, robust, and foldable MOF/aramid nanofiber (ANF) heterogeneous membrane (≈137 cm², ≈4.8 µm thickness).

Innovation 1: The foldable membrane demonstrates high tensile strength (≈151.87 MPa), fracture strain (≈9.9%), ion selectivity (0.85), and power conversion density (59.61 W m⁻²) under a 500-fold salinity gradient, outperforming most reported MOF-based materials.

Innovation 2: The heterogeneous membrane exhibits excellent power generation stability over 14 days of continuous testing. By selecting different MOF particles on the ANF substrate, efficient salinity gradient energy conversion can still be achieved.

https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202504519