Dynamic Sub‐Nanoscale “Water Fingers” in Interfacial Polymerization
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Small - 2025 - Mai - Dynamic Sub‐Nanoscale Water Fingers in Interfacial Polymerization.pdf
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Author(s)
Mai, Zhaohuan
Yoshioka, Tomohisa
Deshmukh, Akshay
Yuan, Tianmu
Zhu, Junyong
Yuan, Jinkai
Gonzales, Ralph Rolly
Yamamoto, Ayano
Shi, Yongxuan
Fu, Wenming
Date Issued
June 20, 2025
Journal
Small
Publisher
Wiley
Citation
Mai, Zhaohuan, Yoshioka, Tomohisa, Deshmukh, Akshay, Yuan, Tianmu, Zhu, Junyong et al. 2025. "Dynamic Sub‐Nanoscale “Water Fingers” in Interfacial Polymerization." Small.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Interfacial polymerization (IP) is widely used to fabricate high‐performance membranes, yet the molecular‐level dynamics that govern monomer transport across liquid–liquid interfaces remain poorly understood. Here it is reported that sub‐nanoscale “water fingers”—transient chains of water molecules—modulate the interfacial behavior of amine monomers during IP, dictating the structure and performance of the resulting polyamide films. Using molecular dynamics simulations of archetypal membrane‐forming systems (m‐phenylenediamine (MPD)–trimesoyl chloride (TMC) for reverse osmosis and piperazine (PIP)–TMC for nanofiltration), it is revealed that water fingers differentially stabilize monomer transport across the aqueous‐organic interface, correlating with experimentally observed disparities in film density and permeability. These findings offer a new physical picture of interfacial reactivity, establishing water fingers as critical, tunable elements of monomer transport. This work provides mechanistic insights into a century‐old reaction and opens new design strategies for ultrathin films and interfacial materials.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202504497
