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Xing et al. Microstructures 2023;3:2023031 Microstructures
DOI: 10.20517/microstructures.2023.11

Review Open Access

Constructing and regulating nanochannels in two-

dimensional-material-based membranes for
specified separation applications

1
2
1
1,#
Chao Xing 1,2,# , Mengchen Zhang , Lingfeng Liu , Zehua Zheng , Ming Zhou , Shanqing Zhang 2 , Changyu
Liu 1
1
School of Biotechnology and Health Sciences, Wuyi University, Jiangmen 529020, Guangdong, China.
2
Centre for Catalysis and Clean Energy, School of Environment and Science, Gold Coast Campus, Griffith University, Queensland,
QLD 4222, Australia.
#
Authors contributed equally to this work.
Correspondence to: Prof. Shanqing Zhang, Centre for Catalysis and Clean Energy, School of Environment and Science, Gold
Coast Campus, Griffith University, Queensland, QLD 4222, Australia. E-mail: s.zhang@griffith.edu.au; Dr. Ming Zhou, Centre for
Catalysis and Clean Energy, School of Environment and Science, Gold Coast Campus, Griffith University, QLD 4222, Queensland,
Australia. E-mail: ming.zhou@griffith.edu.au; Prof. Changyu Liu, School of Biotechnology and Health Sciences, Wuyi University,
Jiangmen 529020, Guangdong China. E-mail: wyuchemcyliu@126.com
How to cite this article: Xing C, Zhang M, Liu L, Zheng Z, Zhou M, Zhang S, Liu C. Constructing and regulating nanochannels in
two-dimensional-material-based membranes for specified separation applications. Microstructures 2023;3:2023031.
https://dx.doi.org/10.20517/microstructures.2023.11

Received: 26 Feb 2023 First Decision: 19 Apr 2023 Revised: 26 May 2023 Accepted: 2 Jun 2023 Published: 10 Jul 2023

Academic Editors: Shujun Zhang, Yi Du Copy Editor: Fangyuan Liu Production Editor: Fangyuan Liu

Abstract
The two-dimensional (2D) materials offer atomic-level thickness and unique physical and chemical properties for
the preparation of a new class of membranes, i.e., nanochannel membranes. The nanochannel membranes have
been utilized in a broad spectrum of new separation applications. However, the instability of the nanochannels,
interfacial instability of 2D materials, and the swelling problem could damage the membrane performance, such as
permeability, selectivity, and service lifetime. Innovative strategies for constructing and regulating the
nanochannels are enthusiastically explored to address these challenges. Along this line, in this work, we first
provide insight into the mechanisms of the nanochannel construction, the separation mechanism, and the effect of
nanochannels on the separation performance. Then, the strategies developed in the literature, in particular, the
strategies for the preparation of ideal 2D nanosheets, the strategies for constructing nanochannels, and the
strategies for regulating the characteristics of nanochannels (channel size, channel length, channel morphology,
and channel surface physicochemical properties) are systematically summarized. After that, we briefly introduce
the application of 2D-material-based nanochannel membranes and outline the current challenges and provide an

© The Author(s) 2023. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, sharing,
adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, for any purpose, even commercially, as
long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and
indicate if changes were made.

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