Flash freezing route to mesoporous polymer nanofibre networks

There are increasing requirements worldwide for advanced separation materials with applications in environmental protection processes. Various mesoporous polymeric materials have been developed and they are considered as potential candidates. It is still challenging, however, to develop economically viable and durable separation materials from low-cost, mass-produced materials. Here we report the fabrication of a nanofibrous network structure from common polymers, based on a microphase separation technique from frozen polymer solutions. The resulting polymer nanofibre networks exhibit large free surface areas, exceeding 300 m(2) g(-1), as well as small pore radii as low as 1.9 nm. These mesoporous polymer materials are able to rapidly adsorb and desorb a large amount of carbon dioxide and are also capable of condensing organic vapours. Furthermore, the nanofibres made of engineering plastics with high glass transition temperatures over 200 °C exhibit surprisingly high, temperature-dependent adsorption of organic solvents from aqueous solution.