• Membrane Journal
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.421-431
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• 2016

Novel membrane technologies that harness ordered nanostructures have recently received much attention because they allow for high permeability due to their reduced flow resistance while also maintaining high selectivity due to their isoporous characteristics. In particular, the opaline structure (made from the self-assembly of colloidal particles) and its inverted form (inverse-opal) have shown strong potential for membrane applications on account of several advantages in processing and the resulting membrane properties. These include controllability over the pore size and surface functional moieties, which enable a wide range of applications ranging from size-exclusive separation to catalytically-reactive membranes. Furthermore, when combined with multiscale architecturing strategies, inverse-opal-structured membranes can be designed to have specific pores or channel structures. These materials are anticipated to be utilized for next-generation, high-performance, and high-value-added functional membranes. In this review article, various types of inverse-opal-structured membranes are reviewed and their functionalization through hierarchical structuring will be comprehensively investigated and discussed.