CTS - 9627361 Edward Cussler Frank Bates University of Minnesota ABSTRACT The proposal aims at building membranes for gas separations whose surfaces feature submicron-sized corrugations. The corrugations will be achieved by surfactant-directed self-assembly and also self-assembly of block copolymers. The first approach involves interfacial polymerization at a "middle phase" interface to improve selectivity and increase flux. The second approach utilizes block copolymers that self-assemble into corrugated structures. In particular, polystyrene-polyisoprene diblock copolymers of different volume fractions of the blocks will be used to obtain various microstructures. The results may lead to significant improvement of flux in selective membranes.
