Recent advances in ion-imprinted membranes: separation and detection via ion-selective recognition

Ion-imprinted membranes (IIMs), the combined products of the membrane separation technique and ion-imprinting technique, are capable of selectively separating and detecting ions via ion-selective recognition. Advanced ion-imprinting methods and synthetic strategies have produced IIMs with great potential for industrial separation, water treatment, resource recovery and pollution monitoring. However, the exploration of IIMs is still in its infancy, and needs more investment from researchers. This tutorial review not only provides a panoramic view of the origin, development, construction methods, recognition mechanisms, performance evaluation and influencing factors of IIMs, but also introduces recent advances in applications for selective separation and detection. In particular, this review also presents the challenges for the further development of IIMs. The aim of this review is to serve as a bridge for future research into IIMs. We believe that the present review will provide a general overview of the forefront of the selective separation and detection of ions. We also expect later research to widen the materials chemistry community based on this review.