Functionalized Polymeric Membranes and Thin Liquid Films: Formation, Characterization and Applications

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Membranes and Films".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 June 2023) | Viewed by 4768

Special Issue Editors

Institute of Applied Sciences and Intelligent Systems ISASI-CNR, Pozzuoli, Italy
Interests: materials science; self-assembly; lab-on-a-chip; direct writing; high resolution printing; optics; microfulidic and innovative manipulation of liquids and polymers
Institute of Applied Sciences and Intelligent Systems ISASI-CNR, Pozzuoli, Italy
Interests: applied optics; digital holography; lab-on-chip; Electrohydrodynamics; fiber sensors
1. Interdisciplinary Research Center in Biomaterials (CRIB), University of Naples Federico II, P.le Tecchio 80, 80125 Naples, Italy
2. Center for Advanced Biomaterials for Health Care @CRIB, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, P.le Tecchio 80, 80125 Naples, Italy
Interests: rheology; microfluidics; soft matter; CFD simulations
Mathematics, Mechanics, and Materials Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, 1919-1 Tancha, Onna-son, Kunigami-gun, Okinawa 904-0495, Japan
Interests: hydrogels; block copolymers; two-dimensional materials; mechanics; thermodynamics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the last years interesting and highly cited articles have been published on the general topic of polymeric thin membranes and liquid films. This topic of research is so wide that the publications related span from biomedicine to energy and environmental science. Demanding technological solutions are still claimed for: isolation of object/liquid from a reactive environment, filtration and cleaning from particles and pollution, packaging with functionalized films and the development of coatings with advanced properties. This Special Issue is focused on the current state-of-art of functionalized polymeric membranes and thin liquid films. This special issue invites contributions in all the area of interest and introduces the leading edge strategies of fabrication and innovative characterization approaches, paying attention to the understanding of the physics and chemistry of surface coating. We believe that the richness of all contributions will involve topic of great importance for a variety of applications such as microelectronics, drug delivery, biomaterials, forensics, planet ecology and space research.

Dr. Sara Coppola
Dr. Pietro Ferraro
Prof. Dr. Pier Luca Maffettone
Prof. Dr. Eliot Fried
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • fabrication
  • self-folding polymer films
  • self-assembly
  • encapsulated objects/liquids
  • three-dimensional packaging
  • solar cells/photovoltaic
  • electronics
  • waste water
  • membrane for healthcare
  • photothermal therapy

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

24 pages, 5275 KiB  
Article
Temperature Responsive Copolymers Films of Polyether and Bio-Based Polyamide Loaded with Imidazolium Ionic Liquids for Smart Packaging Applications
by Daniela C. Zampino, Gabriele Clarizia and Paola Bernardo
Polymers 2023, 15(5), 1147; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15051147 - 24 Feb 2023
Viewed by 1084
Abstract
Temperature-responsive materials are highly interesting for temperature-triggered applications such as drug delivery and smart packaging. Imidazolium Ionic Liquids (ILs), with a long side chain on the cation and a melting temperature of around 50 °C, were synthetized and loaded at moderate amounts (up [...] Read more.
Temperature-responsive materials are highly interesting for temperature-triggered applications such as drug delivery and smart packaging. Imidazolium Ionic Liquids (ILs), with a long side chain on the cation and a melting temperature of around 50 °C, were synthetized and loaded at moderate amounts (up to 20 wt%) within copolymers of polyether and a bio-based polyamide via solution casting. The resulting films were analyzed to assess their structural and thermal properties, and the gas permeation changes due to their temperature-responsive behavior. The splitting of FT-IR signals is evident, and, in the thermal analysis, a shift in the glass transition temperature (Tg) for the soft block in the host matrix towards higher values upon the addition of both ILs is also observed. The composite films show a temperature-dependent permeation with a step change corresponding to the solid–liquid phase change in the ILs. Thus, the prepared polymer gel/ILs composite membranes provide the possibility of modulating the transport properties of the polymer matrix simply by playing with temperature. The permeation of all the investigated gases obeys an Arrhenius-type law. A specific permeation behavior, depending on the heating–cooling cycle sequence, can be observed for carbon dioxide. The obtained results indicate the potential interest of the developed nanocomposites as CO2 valves for smart packaging applications. Full article
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11 pages, 15840 KiB  
Article
Experimental Measurement of Diffusion Coefficient of Polyimide Film for Capacitive Humidity Sensors
by Jianyun Wu, Wenhe Zhou, Xiaowei Wang and Shicheng Li
Polymers 2022, 14(22), 4910; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14224910 - 14 Nov 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1386
Abstract
Polyimide (PI) film is widely used as the key component of the capacitive humidity sensor, whose diffusion coefficient has a significant impact on the sensor’s dynamic characteristics, but is rarely discussed. This paper provides a test method and processes for effective diffusion coefficients [...] Read more.
Polyimide (PI) film is widely used as the key component of the capacitive humidity sensor, whose diffusion coefficient has a significant impact on the sensor’s dynamic characteristics, but is rarely discussed. This paper provides a test method and processes for effective diffusion coefficients of water molecules in self-synthesis PI films. The films were formed by four ingredients (PMDA-ODA, BPDA-ODA and BPDA-BAPP, PMDA-BAPP) with PI acid concentrations of 23%, 20%, 17% and 15%, and tested in temperatures of 20 °C, 35 °C and 50 °C, respectively. The results indicated that BPDA-BAPP film was good as a moisture sensitive film, whose average effective diffusion coefficient was 2.709 × 10−14 m2/s. The temperature of the environment had a significant effect on the humidity-sensitive properties, but the PI acid concentration effect could be indirect. Full article
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18 pages, 4229 KiB  
Article
Hydrogen Production from Methanol–Water Solution and Pure Water Electrolysis Using Nanocomposite Perfluorinated Sulfocationic Membranes Modified by Polyaniline
by Carlos Sanchez, Francisco J. Espinos, Arturo Barjola, Jorge Escorihuela and Vicente Compañ
Polymers 2022, 14(21), 4500; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14214500 - 24 Oct 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1939
Abstract
In this work, we report the preparation of Nafion membranes containing two different nanocomposite MF-4SC membranes, modified with polyaniline (PANI) by the casting method through two different polyaniline infiltration procedures. These membranes were evaluated as a polymer electrolyte membrane for water electrolysis. Operating [...] Read more.
In this work, we report the preparation of Nafion membranes containing two different nanocomposite MF-4SC membranes, modified with polyaniline (PANI) by the casting method through two different polyaniline infiltration procedures. These membranes were evaluated as a polymer electrolyte membrane for water electrolysis. Operating conditions were optimized in terms of current density, stability, and methanol concentration. A study was made on the effects on the cell performance of various parameters, such as methanol concentration, water, and cell voltage. The energy required for pure water electrolysis was analyzed at different temperatures for the different membranes. Our experiments showed that PEM electrolyzers provide hydrogen production of 30 mL/min, working at 160 mA/cm2. Our composite PANI membranes showed an improved behavior over pristine perfluorinated sulfocationic membranes (around 20% reduction in specific energy). Methanol–water electrolysis required considerably less (around 65%) electrical power than water electrolysis. The results provided the main characteristics of aqueous methanol electrolysis, in which the power consumption is 2.34 kW h/kg of hydrogen at current densities higher than 0.5 A/cm2. This value is ~20-fold times lower than the electrical energy required to produce 1 kg of hydrogen by water electrolysis. Full article
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