MACROMOLECULAR ION TRANSPORT IN NANOPOROUS MEMBRANES: AREVIEW

Recently there has been considerable interest inthe synthesis of nanostructured materials, particularly,nanoparticles, nanotubes, nanofibers and nanocables. Thissynthesis has been proven to be a versatile approach forpreparing nanotubes or nanopores. Template synthesisallows the fabrication of nanotubes within the pores of ananoporous membrane (such as polycarbonatemembranes) or other templates [1]. Unlike nanoparticlesthat have a wide range of sizes, nanotubes obtained bytemplate synthesis have cylindrical shape of uniformdiameter and length. The nanotube diameter is usual inthe nanometer scale while the length is in the micronscale. The ability to control the dimensions of thenanotubes is an important feature of the template method.