Functional Group Density and Recognition in Polymer Nanotubes

Branching out: The use of polypropylene–imine dendrimers as scaffolds leads to the precise control of the pore size of functionalized nanoporous membranes, which can be used for molecular recognition. The nanopores show a finite transition in generation-dependent molecular discrimination capabilities, which arises not only from the size of the final pores, but also from the functional group density of the dendrimers (see picture).