A covalent organic framework membrane with highly selective and permeable artificial sodium channels via ion recognition

Jing Wang; Junwei Zhang; Pengrui Jin; He Wen; Ziwen Dai; Hao Tan; Shushan Yuan; Jiakuan Yang; Menachem Elimelech

doi:10.1038/s41467-025-62329-1

A covalent organic framework membrane with highly selective and permeable artificial sodium channels via ion recognition

Jing Wang
, Junwei Zhang
, Pengrui Jin
, He Wen
, Ziwen Dai
, Hao Tan
, Shushan Yuan
, Jiakuan Yang
, Menachem Elimelech

Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Yale University
KU Leuven
Hubei Provincial Engineering Laboratory for Solid Waste Treatment Disposal and Recycling
Rice University

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

18 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

Biological sodium channels efficiently discriminate between same–charge ions with similar hydration shells. However, achieving precise ion selectivity and high throughput in artificial ion channel fabrication remains challenging. Here, we investigate angstrom–scale channels in 15-crown-5 (15C5) functionalized COF membranes for fast, selective ion transport. Due to crown ether recognition of sodium ions, channels in DHTA-Hz-15C5 membranes selectively facilitate Na⁺ transport, further enhanced by the hydroxyl-enriched COF skeleton. A Na⁺/K⁺ selectivity of 58.31 is achieved with 9.33 mmol m⁻² h^–1 permeance, significantly exceeding current membranes and resembling biological channels. Theoretical simulations indicate one–dimensional COF channels facilitate transport, while crown ether recognition makes the Na⁺ energy barrier significantly lower than K⁺, enabling ultrahigh selectivity with high Na⁺ permeability. This promotes COFs for efficient single-ion transport and advances crown ether ion selectivity in nano-restricted environments.

Original language	English
Article number	7346
Number of pages	10
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	16
Issue number	1
Early online date	9 Aug 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-62329-1
Publication status	Published - 31 Dec 2025

Data Availability Statement

All data are available within the article and its Supplementary Information files. Additional data related to this paper may be requested from the corresponding authors. Source data are provided with this paper.

Acknowledgements

Additionally, we would also like to thank the Analytical and Testing Center of Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) for providing experimental measurements and the School of Environmental Science and Engineering of HUST for the supply of instruments for materials analysis.

Funding

This study was financed by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52370137 awarded to S.Y.) and the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2023YFC3207404, 2022YFA1205603 both awarded to J.Y.).

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Chemistry
General Biochemistry,Genetics and Molecular Biology
General
General Physics and Astronomy

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Cite this

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abstract = "Biological sodium channels efficiently discriminate between same–charge ions with similar hydration shells. However, achieving precise ion selectivity and high throughput in artificial ion channel fabrication remains challenging. Here, we investigate angstrom–scale channels in 15-crown-5 (15C5) functionalized COF membranes for fast, selective ion transport. Due to crown ether recognition of sodium ions, channels in DHTA-Hz-15C5 membranes selectively facilitate Na+ transport, further enhanced by the hydroxyl-enriched COF skeleton. A Na+/K+ selectivity of 58.31 is achieved with 9.33 mmol m−2 h–1 permeance, significantly exceeding current membranes and resembling biological channels. Theoretical simulations indicate one–dimensional COF channels facilitate transport, while crown ether recognition makes the Na+ energy barrier significantly lower than K⁺, enabling ultrahigh selectivity with high Na⁺ permeability. This promotes COFs for efficient single-ion transport and advances crown ether ion selectivity in nano-restricted environments.",

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AU - Wang, Jing

AU - Zhang, Junwei

AU - Jin, Pengrui

AU - Wen, He

AU - Dai, Ziwen

AU - Tan, Hao

AU - Yuan, Shushan

AU - Yang, Jiakuan

AU - Elimelech, Menachem

PY - 2025/12/31

Y1 - 2025/12/31

N2 - Biological sodium channels efficiently discriminate between same–charge ions with similar hydration shells. However, achieving precise ion selectivity and high throughput in artificial ion channel fabrication remains challenging. Here, we investigate angstrom–scale channels in 15-crown-5 (15C5) functionalized COF membranes for fast, selective ion transport. Due to crown ether recognition of sodium ions, channels in DHTA-Hz-15C5 membranes selectively facilitate Na+ transport, further enhanced by the hydroxyl-enriched COF skeleton. A Na+/K+ selectivity of 58.31 is achieved with 9.33 mmol m−2 h–1 permeance, significantly exceeding current membranes and resembling biological channels. Theoretical simulations indicate one–dimensional COF channels facilitate transport, while crown ether recognition makes the Na+ energy barrier significantly lower than K⁺, enabling ultrahigh selectivity with high Na⁺ permeability. This promotes COFs for efficient single-ion transport and advances crown ether ion selectivity in nano-restricted environments.

AB - Biological sodium channels efficiently discriminate between same–charge ions with similar hydration shells. However, achieving precise ion selectivity and high throughput in artificial ion channel fabrication remains challenging. Here, we investigate angstrom–scale channels in 15-crown-5 (15C5) functionalized COF membranes for fast, selective ion transport. Due to crown ether recognition of sodium ions, channels in DHTA-Hz-15C5 membranes selectively facilitate Na+ transport, further enhanced by the hydroxyl-enriched COF skeleton. A Na+/K+ selectivity of 58.31 is achieved with 9.33 mmol m−2 h–1 permeance, significantly exceeding current membranes and resembling biological channels. Theoretical simulations indicate one–dimensional COF channels facilitate transport, while crown ether recognition makes the Na+ energy barrier significantly lower than K⁺, enabling ultrahigh selectivity with high Na⁺ permeability. This promotes COFs for efficient single-ion transport and advances crown ether ion selectivity in nano-restricted environments.

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A covalent organic framework membrane with highly selective and permeable artificial sodium channels via ion recognition

Abstract

Data Availability Statement

Acknowledgements

Funding

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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