Water‐Assisted Programmable Assembly of Flexible and Self‐Standing Janus Membranes

Abstract

Abstract Janus membranes with asymmetric wettability have been considered cutting‐edge for energy/environmental‐sustainable applications like water/fog harvester, breathable skin, and smart sensor; however, technical challenges in fabrication and accurate regulation of asymmetric wettability limit their development. Herein, by using water‐assisted hydrogen‐bonded (H‐bonded) assembly of small molecules at water/oil interface, a facile strategy is proposed for one‐step fabrication of membranes with well‐regulable asymmetric wettability. Asymmetric orderly patterns, beneficial for mass transport based on abundant high‐permeability sites and large surface area, are constructed on opposite membrane surfaces. Upon tuning water‐assisted H‐bonding via H‐sites/configuration design and temperature/pH modulation, double‐hydrophobic, double‐hydrophilic, and hydrophobic‐hydrophilic membranes are facilely fabricated. The Janus membranes show smart vapor‐responsive curling and unidirectional water transport with promising flux of 1158±25 L m−2 h−1 under natural gravity and 31500±670 L·(m−2 h−1 bar−1) at negative pressure. This bottom‐up approach offers a feasible‐to‐scalable avenue to precise‐manipulation of Janus membranes for advanced applications, providing an effective pathway for developing tailor‐made self‐assembled nanomaterials.

Keywords

• Janus membrane
• H‐bonded assembly
• unidirectional water transport
• vapor response