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Free, publicly-accessible full text available August 27, 2026
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Free, publicly-accessible full text available May 28, 2026
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Voids—the nothingness—broadly exist within nanomaterials and impact properties ranging from catalysis to mechanical response. However, understanding nanovoids is challenging due to lack of imaging methods with the needed penetration depth and spatial resolution. Here, we integrate electron tomography, morphometry, graph theory and coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulation to study the formation of interconnected nanovoids in polymer films and their impacts on permeance and nanomechanical behaviour. Using polyamide membranes for molecular separation as a representative system, three-dimensional electron tomography at nanometre resolution reveals nanovoid formation from coalescence of oligomers, supported by coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations. Void analysis provides otherwise inaccessible inputs for accurate fittings of methanol permeance for polyamide membranes. Three-dimensional structural graphs accounting for the tortuous nanovoids within, measure higher apparent moduli with polyamide membranes of higher graph rigidity. Our study elucidates the significance of nanovoids beyond the nothingness, impacting the synthesis‒morphology‒function relationships of complex nanomaterials.more » « lessFree, publicly-accessible full text available December 1, 2025
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Redox‐active electrosorbents are promising platforms for selective separations. However, these platforms face intrinsic challenges in extracting multiple species simultaneously, as their binding mechanisms are typically tailored to separate a single ion preferentially. Here, bipolar electrochemistry is leveraged to introduce a new strategy for the multiplexed use of redox‐active and capacitive materials for separations. Using polyvinyl ferrocene (PVF)‐, Prussian blue analog (PBA)‐functionalized, and carbon‐based electrodes, multicomponent separations within a modular bipolar electrode (BPE) platform are demonstrated. The multiplexed BPE system provides distinct electrochemical environments within each BPE pair, enabling parallel selective separations. With three identical PVF BPEs, arsenic uptake increased linearly from 41.4 to 115.4 mgAsgPVF−1, highlighting the scalability of the system. Moreover, deploying three distinct BPE pairs—PBA, PVF, and carbon—enables simultaneous potassium recovery (11.0 mg g−1), arsenic removal (19.8 mg g−1), and desalination (4.2 mg g−1) from secondary wastewater, demonstrating real‐world applicability. This wireless, membraneless architecture enables process‐intensified selective separations by precisely controlling local electric fields on individual redox‐active materials, facilitating electrosorption and regeneration across diverse BPE systems within a unified process.more » « less
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