Free-standing, thermostable, micrometer-scale honeycomb polymer films and their properties

A method of manufacturing free-standing, micrometer-scale honeycomb polyetherimide films is reported for the first time. Films are manufactured with a dip-coating technique under water-assisted self-assembly. It is shown that the addition of poly(organosilane/siloxane)s and polyethylene glycol) allows the formation of regular honeycomb patterns. The films demonstrated the high thermal stability inherent for polyetherimide. The wetting properties of films are reported. The presence of nanopores was revealed with SEM imaging of the films. The makeup of the films allows their use as asymmetric membranes for reverse osmosis and ultrafiltration.