Electrothermal Regulation of Ultrafast Nanoconfined Water Transport in Conductive Carbon Membranes for Molecular Sieving

Manipulation of nanoconfined water dynamics by heat and electricity is attractive for advancing membrane separation processes, yet integrating ångström-scale molecular sieving with robust electrothermal performance remains challenging. Herein, we demonstrate that a conductive carbon membrane enables ultraselective water/organic molecular separation under electrothermal regulation. Compared with the thermally driven pervaporation process, the electrically driven Joule heating enhanced the permeation flux and separation factor by 48% and 270%, respectively. The improved separation performance was attributed to localized Joule heating, which eliminates the effect of temperature polarization, and the electric field, which promotes the oriented arrangements of confined water molecules within the subnanometer channel and inverts the water/ethanol adsorption behavior. Technoeconomic analysis further indicates ∼60% lower energy consumption and a 54% reduction in specific cost versus the thermally driven benchmark. These multiphysics-coupled carbon-based membranes provide valuable design principles for the development of next-generation molecular separation.