DEVELOPMENT OF MOLECULAR SIEVE MODULE BY (POLYMER/LIQUID CRYSTAL) COMPOSITE THIN FILM AND ULTRA-PRECISION GAS SEPARATION

（聚合物/液晶）复合膜具有聚集结构，其中液晶作为连续相嵌入三维聚合物网络中。本研究的目的是开发用于气体分子分离的薄膜组件，并阐明选择性分离机理。（聚合物/液晶）复合膜的分子筛特性强烈依赖于其聚集态结构。光散射研究表明，在成膜过程中，聚合物和液晶分别集中的两种各向同性溶液发生相分离，出现各向异性液晶相。为了控制液晶相中分子扩散通道的取向，研究了复合膜中液晶分子在外加电场作用下的取向行为。液晶分子对电场的响应行为受（聚合物/液晶）界面处的锚定效应的影响。用聚合物-液晶串联单元的介电模型解释了电场作用下复合膜界面结构的变化，聚合物/液晶具有良好的气体分离能力，电场作用下渗透通道可以定向。

The (polymer/liquid crystal) composite film has the aggregation structure in which a liquid crystal is embedded as a continuous phase in a three-dimensional polymer network. The purpose of this study is to develop the thin film module for separation of gas molecules, and to clarify the selective separation mechanism.The molecular sieve characteristics of the (polymer/liquid crystal) composite film are strongly dependent on its aggregation structure. It is clear from light scattering studies during the film formation process that the phase-separation occurred between the two isotropic solutions in which the polymer and the liquid crystal are concentrated respectively, then the anisotropic liquid crystal phase appears. The resulting phase-separated structure is determined at the initial stage of the phase-separation, which is a spinodal decomposition.In order to control the orientation of the molecular diffusion channels in the liquid crystal phase, the orientational behavior of the liquid crystal molecules in the composite film upon application of an electric field. The response behavior of the liquid crystal molecules to the electric field is affected by the anchoring effect at the (polymer/liquid crystal) interface. Changes in the interfacial structure in the composite film induced by application of an electric field was clarified using the dielectric model consisting of series units of polymer and liquid crystal.The (polymer/liquid crystal) which possesses an excellent ability to separate gases and the permeation channels can be oriented upon application of an electric field.