Photo-induced sol-gel processing for low-temperature fabrication of high-performance silsesquioxane membranes for use in molecular separation.

Silsesquioxane (SQ) membranes derived from 3-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane and bis(trimethoxysilyl)ethane were successfully fabricated at low temperature via photo-induced sol-gel processing. Radical and cationic polymerization of SQ membranes showed high degrees of separation factor and permeance for water/isopropanol separation in pervaporation.