Long-range selective transport of anions and cations in graphene oxide membranes, causing selective crystallization on the macroscale

Abstract

Monoatomic nanosheets can form 2-dimensional channels with tunable chemical properties, for ion storage and filtering applications. Here, we demonstrate transport of K⁺, Na⁺, and Li⁺ cations and F⁻ and Cl⁻ anions on the centimeter scale in graphene oxide membranes (GOMs), triggered by an electric bias. Besides ion transport, the GOM channels foster also the aggregation of the selected ions in salt crystals, whose composition is not the same as that of the pristine salt present in solution, highlighting the difference between the chemical environment in the 2D channels and in bulk solutions.