Highly‐Ordered Hybrid Organic‐Inorganic Isoporous Membranes from Polymer Modified Nanoparticles

Summary: Organic‐inorganic hybrid materials consisting of nanosized silica particles with surface grafted PS or PS‐b‐PMMA were synthesized using ATRP. These hybrid materials were used in the fabrication of highly‐ordered isoporous membranes. Optical characterization revealed that the membranes consisted of hexagonally ordered pores of uniform size. The combination of an open pore structure and high surface area makes isoporous membranes into materials of high interest in fields as biotechnology and photonics. Image from optical microscope of hybrid nanoparticle membrane of SiO2‐g‐PS with hexagonally‐ordered pores. image Image from optical microscope of hybrid nanoparticle membrane of SiO2‐g‐PS with hexagonally‐ordered pores.