Smart membrane: preparation of molecular cavity and preferential sorption of small molecule

Preparation of smart membrane was carried out for an establishment of high performance separation membrane. The smart membrane contains subnano scaled molecular cavity which is constructed by polymer architecture, which is similar to the structure of small molecules separated and is aligned regularly in crystalline polymers. First the d form complex of syndiotactic polystyrene is obtained from a solution containing good solvent, and then good solvent as guest molecule was extracted stepwisely from the d form complex using first extraction solvent of acetone and second extraction solvent of methanol. We could prepare molecular cavities with different sizes and shapes. Sorption of small molecules into the molecular cavity demonstrated preferential sorption in a manner of Langmuir type depending on the size and shape of both small molecules and molecular cavities. q 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.