Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40538259›Full record

ArticleSmall (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany)2025

Dynamic Sub-Nanoscale "Water Fingers" in Interfacial Polymerization.

Zhaohuan Mai, Tomohisa Yoshioka, Akshay Deshmukh, Tianmu Yuan, Junyong Zhu, Jinkai Yuan, Ralph Rolly Gonzales, Ayano Yamamoto, Yongxuan Shi, Wenming Fu and 5 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Dynamic Sub-Nanoscale "Water Fingers" in Interfacial Polymerization.Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) · 2025
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

15 authors.

Zhaohuan MaiResearch Center for Membrane and Film Technology, Kobe University, Kobe, 657-8501, Japan.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8388-4029
Tomohisa YoshiokaResearch Center for Membrane and Film Technology, Kobe University, Kobe, 657-8501, Japan.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7489-441X
Akshay DeshmukhDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139-4307, USA.
Tianmu YuanDepartment of Chemical Engineering, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M1 3AL, UK.
Junyong ZhuSchool of Chemical Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, P. R. China.
Jinkai YuanLaboratoire de Chimie de la Matière Condensée de Paris (LCMCP), Sorbonne Université, CNRS, UMR 7574, Paris, 75005, France.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2347-5191
Ralph Rolly GonzalesResearch Center for Membrane and Film Technology, Kobe University, Kobe, 657-8501, Japan.
Ayano YamamotoGraduate School of Science, Technology and Innovation, Kobe University, Kobe, 657-8501, Japan.
Yongxuan ShiResearch Center for Membrane and Film Technology, Kobe University, Kobe, 657-8501, Japan.
Wenming FuResearch Center for Membrane and Film Technology, Kobe University, Kobe, 657-8501, Japan.
Kecheng GuanResearch Center for Membrane and Film Technology, Kobe University, Kobe, 657-8501, Japan.
Zhan LiResearch Center for Membrane and Film Technology, Kobe University, Kobe, 657-8501, Japan.
Pengfei ZhangResearch Center for Membrane and Film Technology, Kobe University, Kobe, 657-8501, Japan.
John H LienhardDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139-4307, USA.
Hideto MatsuyamaResearch Center for Membrane and Film Technology, Kobe University, Kobe, 657-8501, Japan.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2468-4905

Funding

Japan Society for the Promotion of Science JP25K00246Type B Fostering Joint Research Project of Strategic International Collaborative Research Program
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Interfacial polymerization (IP) is widely used to fabricate high-performance membranes, yet the molecular-level dynamics that govern monomer transport across liquid-liquid interfaces remain poorly understood. Here it is reported that sub-nanoscale "water fingers"-transient chains of water molecules-modulate the interfacial behavior of amine monomers during IP, dictating the structure and performance of the resulting polyamide films. Using molecular dynamics simulations of archetypal membrane-forming systems (m-phenylenediamine (MPD)-trimesoyl chloride (TMC) for reverse osmosis and piperazine (PIP)-TMC for nanofiltration), it is revealed that water fingers differentially stabilize monomer transport across the aqueous-organic interface, correlating with experimentally observed disparities in film density and permeability. These findings offer a new physical picture of interfacial reactivity, establishing water fingers as critical, tunable elements of monomer transport. This work provides mechanistic insights into a century-old reaction and opens new design strategies for ultrathin films and interfacial materials.

Indexed as

interfacial polymerizationliquid interfacemembranesmolecular dynamicswater structures

Identifiers

PMID40538259
PMCPMC12372459

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.