Membranes having an average pore size of 5 nm to 5,000 nm and a porosity of 10% or more, said membrane being obtainable by a process comprising curing a composition comprising: (i) a cross-linking agent comprising at least one anionic group; and (ii) inert solvent(s).

The membranes are useful for detecting metal ions and for filtering and/or purifying biomolecules and compositions comprising metal-ions.

Provided is a separator composition that is capable of forming a separator capable of improving the photoelectric conversion efficiency of a photoelectric conversion element such as a dye-sensitized solar cell without being subjected to firing. Prepared is a separator composition including: at least one type of non-conductor particles selected from the group consisting of polymer particles and ceramic particles; and an ionic polymer, and the ionic polymer having a proportion from 0.1 to 30 parts by weight with respect to 1 part by weight of the non-conductor particles. A membranous separator may be prepared by coating a support with the composition without sintering. The non-conductor particles may be insulating inorganic oxide particles. A photoelectric conversion layer 2 may be stacked on a conductive substrate 1, the membranous separator 3 may be stacked on the photoelectric conversion layer to produce a laminate, and this laminate may be used to fabricate a photoelectric conversion element.

A polysulfone membrane is modified so that monomers are grafted onto the surface of the membrane. The polysulfone membranes can be grafted by contacting the membrane with a grafting solution and exposing the membrane to electromagnetic radiation, typically within the ultraviolet portion of the spectrum. The monomers that are grafted are typically anionic or cationic. The grafted membranes can be used for filtering impurities, such as positively and negatively charged particles, from a liquid. Anionic membranes provide improved filtration of negatively charged impurities, while cationic membranes provide improved filtration of positively charged impurities.

A highly permeable sorbent platform based on polysulfone and polystyrene-b-poly(acrylic acid) composite membranes. The membranes possess a fully interconnected network of poly(acrylic acid)-lined pores, which enables the surface chemistry to be tailored through sequential attachment of polyethyleneimine moieties and metal-binding terpyridine ligands. The polyethyleneimine moieties increase the saturation capacity, while the addition of terpyridine enables high-affinity binding to a diversity of transition metal ions. This membrane platform removes such metal contaminants from solution. The metal capture performance of the functionalized membranes persists even in high concentrations of competitive ions. Also, fluorescence quenching of the terpyridine moiety upon metal ion complexation offers an in-situ probe to monitor the extent of sorbent saturation. The permeability, capacity, and affinity of these membranes, with high-density display of a metal-binding ligand, offer a chemically tailored platform to address the challenges that arise in ensuring clean water.

The present invention pertains to a process for the manufacture of a dense film. The process includes processing, in a molten phase, a solid composition [composition (C)] comprising; at least one vinylidene fluoride (VDF) fluoropolymer comprising one or more carboxylic acid functional end groups [polymer (F)], at least one poly(alkylene oxide) (PAO) of formula (I):
HO—(CH.sub.2CHR.sub.AO).sub.n—R.sub.B  (I) wherein R.sub.A is a hydrogen atom or a C.sub.1-C.sub.5 alkyl group, R.sub.B is a hydrogen atom or a —CH.sub.3 alkyl group and n is an integer comprised between 2000 and 40000, preferably between 4000 and 35000, more preferably between 11500 and 30000, and -optionally, at least one inorganic filler [filler (I)]; thereby providing a dense film having a thickness of from 5 μm to 30 μm. The present invention also pertains to the dense film provided by this process and to the use of the dense film as dense separator in electrochemical devices.

The present invention relates to a bipolar ion exchange membrane and a production method therefor, and provides a bipolar ion exchange membrane comprising a first polar heterogeneous ion exchange membrane and a second polar homogeneous ion exchange membrane stacked on each other, wherein the first polar heterogeneous ion exchange membrane is formed of an ion exchange resin powder and a binder resin that contain a first polar ion exchange group, the second polar homogeneous ion exchange membrane is formed of a matrix resin containing a second polar ion exchange group, and an interface between the first polar heterogeneous ion exchange membrane and the second polar homogeneous ion exchange membrane is a heterogeneous interface.

An aprotic polymer/molten salt ternary mixture solvent and to a corresponding quaternary mixture additionally including an ionic conducting salt, which are prepared by mixing the constituents of the mixture. These mixtures are advantageously used in the preparation of electrochemical membranes, electrochemical systems and of electrochromic systems. Also, electrochemical and electrochromic systems obtained hereby that exhibit, in particular, excellent electrochemical properties at low temperatures.

The present invention relates to a hydrophilic separation membrane polymer composition containing a sulfonated graphene oxide and a sulfonated carbon nanotube, and a hydrophilic separation membrane fabricated therefrom. A hydrophilic separation membrane according to the present invention has the advantage of being very high in water permeability and excellent in anti-fouling properties.

An electrolyte membrane including (i) a porous mat of nanofibres, wherein the nanofibres are composed of a non-ionically conducting heterocyclic-based polymer, the heterocyclic-based polymer comprising basic functional groups and being soluble in organic solvent; and (ii) an ion-conducting polymer which is a partially- or fully-fluorinated sulphonic acid polymer. The porous mat is essentially fully impregnated with ion-conducting polymer, and the thickness of the porous mat in the electrolyte membrane is distributed across at least 80% of the thickness of the electrolyte membrane. Such a membrane is of use in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell or an electrolyser.

A structured organic film (SOF) is disclosed. The structured organic film includes a plurality of segments, a plurality of linkers, and a plurality of capping segments. The structured organic film also includes a first surface of the SOF. The film also includes a parallel second surface of the SOF connected to the first surface by a thickness of the SOF, where a segment to capping segment ratio is greater at the first surface as compared to the parallel second surface. A membrane including a free-standing film comprised of a structured organic film is also disclosed.