Free Standing Dry and Stable Nanoporous Polymer Films Made through Mechanical Deformation

A new straight forward approach to create nanoporous polymer membranes with well defined average pore diameters is presented. The method is based on fast mechanical deformation of highly entangled polymer films at high temperatures and a subsequent quench far below the glass transition temperature T-g. The process is first designed generally by simulation and then verified for the example of polystyrene films. The methodology does not need any chemical processing, supporting substrate, or self assembly process and is solely based on polymer inherent entanglement effects. Pore diameters are of the order of ten polymer reptation tube diameters. The resulting membranes are stable over months at ambient conditions and display remarkable elastic properties.

Automated summary

A new method for creating nanoporous polymer membranes with well defined pore diameters is introduced, which involves mechanical deformation and quenching of highly entangled polymer films. The approach is validated using polystyrene films and does not require chemical processing, supporting substrate, or self-assembly. The resulting membranes exhibit stable properties and impressive elasticity, with pore diameters on the order of ten polymer reptation tube diameters.