Ultrathin two-dimensional porous fullerene membranes for ultimate organic solvent separation

Two-dimensional (2D) materials with high chemical stability have attracted intensive interest in membrane design for the separation of organic solvents. As a novel 2D material, polymeric fullerenes (C₆₀)_∞ with distinctive properties are very promising for the development of innovative membranes. In this work, we report the construction of a 2D (C₆₀)_∞ nanosheet membrane for organic solvent separation. The pathways of the (C₆₀)_∞ nanosheet membrane are constructed by sub-1-nm lateral channels and nanoscale in-plane pores created by the depolymerization of the (C₆₀)_∞ nanosheets. Attributing to ordered and shortened transport pathways, the ultrathin porous (C₆₀)_∞ membrane is superior in organic solvent separation. The hexane, acetone, and methanol fluxes are up to 1146.3±53, 900.4±41, and 879.5±42 kg ⋅ m⁻² ⋅ h⁻¹, respectively, which are up to 130 times higher than those of the state-of-the-art membranes with similar dye rejection. Our findings demonstrate the prospect of 2D (C₆₀)_∞ as a promising nanofiltration membrane in the separation of organic solvents from macromolecular compounds such as dyes, drugs, hormones, etc.