Separation technologies are fundamental to numerous aspects of modern life, yet they account for approximately 15% of global energy consumption. In traditional separation membranes, particle flow is dictated by undirected Brownian motion, a significant limitation that contrasts with the directional particle transport observed at the atomistic scale in separation columns. Emerging two-dimensional (2D) membranes offer a transformative opportunity to overcome this intrinsic deficiency by shifting particle transport from disordered Brownian motion to unidirectional flow. The 2DPolyMembrane project aims to pioneer next-generation separation technologies by developing unprecedented horizontal and vertical 2D polymer heterostructure membranes (2DHMs) from 2D polymers (2DPs) and functionalized graphene (FG) with selective, highly permeant, and unidirectional ion transport to lay the foundations for the next-generation membrane technologies. This ambitious goal will leverage the synergies of the world-leading expertise of our three groups: (1) high-throughput theoretical design of 2DHMs and prediction of unique ion transport phenomenon by Thomas Heine at Technical University of Dresden; (2) design and synthesis of unprecedented 2DHMs as well as innovative fundamental integration in aqueous battery devices by Xinliang Feng at Max Planck Institute (Halle); (3) fundamental understanding of ion transport in 2DHMs and conceptualization in fuel cell and reverse osmosis device by Grégory Schneider at Leiden University.
