HONEYCOMB STRUCTURED MEMBRANES FORMED VIA WATER CONDENSATION

 

R. López-Simeon, M. Guadalupe Abonce-Vázquez and M. Hernández-Guerrero

 

 

"Top-down" and "bottom-up" techniques are used for the fabrication of micro and nano-structured materials. These structuring techniques have been widely used, however new and more versatile techniques have been developed in order to meet the requirements for new materials. One of these new techniques allows for the formation of honeycomb porous membranes through the use of water condensation. This is a "bottom-up" technique that has some advantages over the traditional methods to structure porous materials. In this review, we present aspects on the origin of the technique, the mechanism of formation of the membranes, the process variables, characterization of the membranes and their current and proposed applications.