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Zeolites have found wide application in catalysis and separation processes due to their tunable pore structure and active sites, and they show remarkable stability in commercial use. Recently, ultra-thin two-dimensional (2D) zeolite nanosheets have been synthesized from zeolite precursors. These ultra-thin nanosheets show promise for high throughput separations and catalytic reactions involving bulky molecules. A commercially feasible synthesis method, however, has yet to be developed. State-of-the-art methods require high energy input and multiple processing steps, and give low yield and small nanosheet size.

 

Professors Winter and Fan have developed a simpler, lower energy method to synthesize ultra-thin 2D zeolite nanosheets from precursor zeolite materials, such as MCM-22 and ml-MFI. In the method, zeolite precusors can be subjected to either a short sonication or chaotic flow treatment in the presence of commercially available telechelic polymers, resulting in exfoliated zeolite nanosheets. While demonstrated in batch, this process can potentially be scaled and made continuous.

The invention is a new platform for fabricating nano- and macro- scale fiber materials and for encapsulation. Complex coacervates are associative complexes of positive and negative polyelectrolytes, which form complexes due to a combination of electrostatic and entropic interactions between the oppositely charged polyions. Due to their aqueous solubility, polyelectrolyte solutions are a good medium for encapsulating small molecules. However, while the concept of polyelectrolyte complexes for a drug delivery system and other applications has seen heightened interest in recent years, significant obstacles and challenges remain both in processing technologies and functionalities of the resulting materials.

 

Electrospinning is an established, versatile, inexpensive and scalable process for creating continuous, nanofibrous mats of non-woven nano-/micro-scale diameter fibers. Electrospun mats hold great promise in biomedical, environmental, and industrial fields.

 

The invention provides novel polymer nanofiber or microfiber mats and methods for their preparation via an aqueous, one-step polyelectrolyte complexation and electrospinning of complex coacervates. The process involves an aqueous medium and no organic solvents and/or strongly acidic or basic condition, resulting in chemically and thermally robust fiber mats. Thus, this process and the resulting materials have tremendous potential as a green processing strategy that can serve as the basis for developing a new class environmentally benign fiber scaffolds for use in applications, such as wound healing, water remediation, catalysis, and food packaging.