Guanidinium-based covalent organic framework membrane for single-acid recovery | Science Advances

Acids are extensively used in contemporary industries. However, time-consuming and environmentally unfriendly processes hinder single-acid recovery from wastes containing various ionic species. Although membrane technology can overcome these challenges by efficiently extracting analytes of interest, the associated processes typically exhibit inadequate ion-specific selectivity. In this regard, we rationally designed a membrane with uniform angstrom-sized pore channels and built-in charge-assisted hydrogen bond donors that preferentially conducted HCl while exhibiting negligible conductance for other compounds. The selectivity originates from the size-screening ability of angstrom-sized channels between protons and other hydrated cations. The built-in charge-assisted hydrogen bond donor enables the screening of acids by exerting host-guest interactions to varying extents, thus acting as an anion filter. The resulting membrane exhibited exceptional permeation for protons over other cations and for Cl ⁻ over SO ₄ ²⁻ and H _n PO ₄ ^{(3- n )−} with selectivities up to 4334 and 183, respectively, demonstrating prospects for HCl extraction from waste streams. These findings will aid in designing advanced multifunctional membranes for sophisticated separation.