The Use of Conducting Polymers in Membrane‐Based Separations

A bstract : As a material family, π‐conjugated polymers (also known as intrinsically conductive polymers) elicit the possibility of both exploiting the chemical and physical attributes of the polymer for membrane‐based separations and incorporating its electronic and electrochemical properties to enhance the separation figures‐of‐merit. This review article, although by no means comprehensive, provides a current snapshot of the investigations from many research laboratories in the use of conducting polymers for membrane‐based separations. The review focuses primarily on polyaniline, polypyrrole, and substituted‐polythiophene and includes applications in gas separations, liquid (and/or vapor) separations, and ion separations. Additionally, we discuss the broad challenges and accomplishments in membrane formation from conducting polymers.