Artificial Lithium Channels Built from Polymers with Intrinsic Microporosity

In sharp contrast to numerous artificial potassium channels developed over the past decade, the study of artificial lithium‐transporting channels has remained limited. We demonstrate here the use of an interesting class of polymers with intrinsic microporosity (PIM) for constructing artificial lithium channels. These PIM‐derived lithium channels show exceptionally efficient (γLi+ > 40 pS) and highly selective transport of Li+ ions, with selectivity factors of > 10 against both Na+ and K+. By simply adjusting the initial reaction temperature, we can tune the transport property in a way that PIMs synthesized at initial reaction temperatures of 60 °C and 80°C exhibit improved transport efficiency and selectivity, respectively, in the dioleoyl phosphatidylcholine membrane.