Nanomesh-Structured Ultrathin Membranes Harnessing Unidirectional Alignment of Viruses on Graphene Oxide Film

Abstract: As industrialization and environmental pollution are increasing at unprecedentedly rapid paces, there is an increasing need for advanced water treatment and membrane technology.[1,2] Traditional membranes have an intrinsic limitation on relatively low permeability due to the large thickness of the active separation layer. Hence, a great deal of attention has recently been paid to ultrathin membranes which can provide maximal permeability while retaining good separation efficiency, even at lower applied pressure. Several designs for ultrathin membranes with uniform nanopores have been proposed, such as ordered protein structures, silicon or carbonaceous thin layers.[3？8] Technological problems, however, such as a lack of mechanical strength or complex and high-precision nanoprocessing have not been solved, not to mention issues related to scaling up for practical use.