Abstract
In view of their facile fabrication and recycling, functional materials that are built from small molecules ("molecular plastics") may represent a cost-efficient and sustainable alternative to conventional covalent materials. We show how molecular plastics can be made robust and how their (nano)structure can be tuned via modular construction. For this purpose, we employed binary composites of organic nanocrystals based on a perylene diimide derivative, with graphene oxide (GO), bentonite nanoclay (NC), or hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC), that both reinforce and enable tailoring the properties of the membranes. The hybrids are prepared via a simple aqueous deposition method, exhibit enhanced mechanical robustness, and can be recycled. We utilized these properties to create separation membranes with tunable porosity that are easy to fabricate and recycle. Hybrids 1/HEC and 1/NC are capable of ultrafiltration, and 1/NC removes heavy metals from water with high efficiency. Hybrid 1/GO shows mechanical properties akin to covalent materials with just 2-10% (by weight) of GO. This hybrid was used as a membrane for immobilizing β-galactosidase that demonstrated long and stable biocatalytic activity. Our findings demonstrate the utility of modular molecular nanoplastics as robust and sustainable materials that enable efficient tuning of structure and function and are based on self-assembly of readily available inexpensive components.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | ACS nano |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Accepted/In press - Jan 1 2019 |
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Keywords
- biocatalysis
- membranes
- nanofiltration
- self-assembly
- supramolecular materials
- ultrafiltration
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Materials Science(all)
- Engineering(all)
- Physics and Astronomy(all)
Cite this
Modular Molecular Nanoplastics. / Niazov-Elkan, Angelica; Sui, Xiaomeng; Kaplan-Ashiri, Ifat; Shimon, Linda J.W.; Leitus, Gregory; Cohen, Erez; Weissman, Haim; Wagner, H. Daniel; Rybtchinski, Boris.
In: ACS nano, 01.01.2019.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Modular Molecular Nanoplastics
AU - Niazov-Elkan, Angelica
AU - Sui, Xiaomeng
AU - Kaplan-Ashiri, Ifat
AU - Shimon, Linda J.W.
AU - Leitus, Gregory
AU - Cohen, Erez
AU - Weissman, Haim
AU - Wagner, H. Daniel
AU - Rybtchinski, Boris
PY - 2019/1/1
Y1 - 2019/1/1
N2 - In view of their facile fabrication and recycling, functional materials that are built from small molecules ("molecular plastics") may represent a cost-efficient and sustainable alternative to conventional covalent materials. We show how molecular plastics can be made robust and how their (nano)structure can be tuned via modular construction. For this purpose, we employed binary composites of organic nanocrystals based on a perylene diimide derivative, with graphene oxide (GO), bentonite nanoclay (NC), or hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC), that both reinforce and enable tailoring the properties of the membranes. The hybrids are prepared via a simple aqueous deposition method, exhibit enhanced mechanical robustness, and can be recycled. We utilized these properties to create separation membranes with tunable porosity that are easy to fabricate and recycle. Hybrids 1/HEC and 1/NC are capable of ultrafiltration, and 1/NC removes heavy metals from water with high efficiency. Hybrid 1/GO shows mechanical properties akin to covalent materials with just 2-10% (by weight) of GO. This hybrid was used as a membrane for immobilizing β-galactosidase that demonstrated long and stable biocatalytic activity. Our findings demonstrate the utility of modular molecular nanoplastics as robust and sustainable materials that enable efficient tuning of structure and function and are based on self-assembly of readily available inexpensive components.
AB - In view of their facile fabrication and recycling, functional materials that are built from small molecules ("molecular plastics") may represent a cost-efficient and sustainable alternative to conventional covalent materials. We show how molecular plastics can be made robust and how their (nano)structure can be tuned via modular construction. For this purpose, we employed binary composites of organic nanocrystals based on a perylene diimide derivative, with graphene oxide (GO), bentonite nanoclay (NC), or hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC), that both reinforce and enable tailoring the properties of the membranes. The hybrids are prepared via a simple aqueous deposition method, exhibit enhanced mechanical robustness, and can be recycled. We utilized these properties to create separation membranes with tunable porosity that are easy to fabricate and recycle. Hybrids 1/HEC and 1/NC are capable of ultrafiltration, and 1/NC removes heavy metals from water with high efficiency. Hybrid 1/GO shows mechanical properties akin to covalent materials with just 2-10% (by weight) of GO. This hybrid was used as a membrane for immobilizing β-galactosidase that demonstrated long and stable biocatalytic activity. Our findings demonstrate the utility of modular molecular nanoplastics as robust and sustainable materials that enable efficient tuning of structure and function and are based on self-assembly of readily available inexpensive components.
KW - biocatalysis
KW - membranes
KW - nanofiltration
KW - self-assembly
KW - supramolecular materials
KW - ultrafiltration
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85071668072&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85071668072&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/acsnano.9b03670
DO - 10.1021/acsnano.9b03670
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85071668072
JO - ACS Nano
JF - ACS Nano
SN - 1936-0851
ER -