Stretched homoporous composite membranes with elliptic nanopores for external-energy-free ultrafiltration

Extremely permeable ultrafiltration membranes with elongated elliptical pores are fabricated by stretching composite membranes with homoporous selective layers and macroporous supports. With simultaneously increased porosities both for the selective layers and supports and the thinned selective layers, the stretched membranes exhibit multifold-enhanced permeability with little sacrifice in selectivities. Thus the produced membranes enable, for the first time, gravity-driven ultrafiltration and discrimination of similarly sized nanoparticles with diameters down to 30 nm.