The drive to expand the implementation of membrane separation technology towards harsher environments prompted the development of chemically robust epoxide-based TFC membranes. This work seeks to better understand the influence of the support on epoxide-based TFC membrane performance and properties. More specifically, it investigates the impact of porous PAN support layers of different porosities and pore sizes on the formation of poly(epoxyether) (PEE) thin films via interfacial initiation of polymerization (IIP), and their more cross-linked and more charged PEE counterparts (XL-PEE) arising from a subsequent post-treatment step. A systematic study was conducted using a series of supports with pore sizes varying from 20 nm to 90 nm and porosities in the range of 4% to 10%, while maintaining identical synthesis conditions for the selective layer. The physicochemical properties of the selective layer were characterized in-depth with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), elastic recoil detection (ERD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) to elucidate the synthesis-structure-performance relationship. PEE TFC membranes comprising these supports had a broad range in water permeances of 5 – 30 L m⁻² h⁻¹ bar⁻¹ with consistent methyl orange (327.33 g mol⁻¹) rejections of ca. 90%. The densified XL-PEE TFC membranes all achieved ca. 65% NaCl rejections, again independent of the support properties. In contrast, more porous supports resulted in more permeable TFC membranes, which can be attributed to the so-called funnel effect. Additionally, the solvent used to prepare the support layers through non-solvent induced phase separation also impacted the selective layer by affecting the interfacial properties during IIP. This work thus demonstrates that the support can serve as an easy tool to fine-tune the performance of the next-generation of high-performance epoxide-based TFC membranes.

Radiation-induced helium (He) bubble formation poses a major challenge to the structural integrity of materials in nuclear energy systems. In this study, we investigate defect evolution and He behavior in Zr/Nb nanoscale metallic multilayers (NMMs) with immiscible BCC/HCP interfaces, irradiated with 80 keV He ions at fluences ranging from 1 × 10¹⁶ to 1 × 10¹⁷ He/cm². For comparison, single-crystal Nb and polycrystalline Zr were also irradiated under identical conditions to serve as reference materials. Using cross-sectional TEM, SIMS, STEM-EELS, nanoindentation, Doppler Broadening Positron Annihilation Spectroscopy (DBPAS), Positron Annihilation Lifetime Spectroscopy (PALS), and atomistic simulations (DFT and MD), we reveal a highly asymmetric damage response across the multilayer interfaces. Zr layers exhibit larger He bubbles (1.5–2.8 nm), higher swelling (∼1.2%), and greater helium retention, while Nb layers develop bubble-denuded zones (BDZs) exclusively around the interfaces, where bubble nucleation is strongly suppressed and swelling is limited to ∼0.4%. This asymmetry arises from differences in atomic transport properties: DFT calculations show lower migration barriers for vacancies and He atoms in Nb (0.4 and 0.19 eV, respectively), enabling efficient defect migration and recombination at interfaces, whereas Zr retains defects due to higher migration barriers. EELS and DBS-PALS measurements confirm bubble densities of 63–96 He/nm³ and the presence of sub-nanometer open volumes. Compared to monolithic samples, the Zr/Nb multilayers exhibit ∼50% lower irradiation-induced hardening and reduced He retention (11% vs. 17.5% in single-crystal Nb and 16% in polycrystalline Zr). These findings highlight the role of interfaces in driving asymmetric radiation damage and demonstrate the effectiveness of BCC Nb layers in mitigating defect growth. Overall, Zr/Nb multilayers are established as a superior alternative to conventional single- and polycrystalline materials for extreme irradiation environments.

The microstructure of Mo was significantly refined by high pressure torsion to verify its irradiation tolerance in comparison with its micrograined counterpart. After deformation microhardness increased from 231 Hv0.2 for a microgarined sample to 542 and 558 Hv0.2, respectively after one and five rotations. Concurrently, the grain refinement was observed, as the grain size decreased with the increase of the deformation degree down to 480 and 110 nm, respectively for one and five rotations. Subsequently, deformed Mo and a micrograined one were irradiated by He ions to the dose of 8 × 10¹⁶/cm ² to verify their potential application as fusion mirrors. Irradiations were followed by reflectivity measurements in the 300–2400 nm range with a dual beam spectrometer. The measurements revealed that the applied dose causes a decrease in total reflectivity of the micrograined sample, whereas the total reflectivity of deformed samples decreases by additional 2.5%. Nanohardness measurements, detailed microscopy observations using focused ion beam and scanning transmission electron microscope as well as positron annihilation spectroscopy investigations were performed to elucidate changes in the microstructure and understand the different mechanisms of bubble creation after irradiation in micrograined and high pressure torsion processed samples.