A composition of five parts by mass of chitosan and one part graphene oxide is suspended in water. The composition may be used to form filtration layers of any size or shape and may be reinforced by additional layers. The composition may be used to construct a large filtration apparatus of any size or shape and may be used to form highly resilient, antimicrobial structures and surfaces for a variety of applications.

The present invention discloses a nanocomposite membrane for heavy metal rejection and a preparation method thereof. The nanocomposite membrane comprises a porous membrane prepared from a two-dimensional sheet material and a hydrophilic inorganic nanomaterial distributed between the sheets of the two-dimensional material. The effective pore size of the nanocomposite membrane under wet conditions is not greater than 1.2 nm. The static water contact angle of the nanocomposite membrane is not greater than 45°. The preparation method of the nanocomposite membrane comprises: adding reactants on both sides of a nanoporous membrane to carry out an interfacial synthesis reaction to obtain the nanocomposite membrane. The method is simple and controllable. Driven by lower pressure, heavy metal ions in water are rejected by a pore size screening function, thereby achieving the purpose of deep removal. The nanocomposite membrane can be used to quickly remove heavy metal ions from water.

The present invention includes a treatment system and methods for removing waste or other agents from a fluid stream, the system comprising: an inlet flow path for receiving a fluid stream from a source outside the treatment system; a vessel for containing the fluid stream, the vessel comprising a permeable filter configured for biological and physical treatment of the fluid stream, the filter comprising one or more nano-thin film or polymer composite layers of carbon materials assembled in sp2 hybridized structures comprising carbon-carbon bonds, wherein the waste or agent is removed as it flows through pores in the film composite; and a drain fluidly connected to the vessel for discharging treated fluid stream from the vessel from which the waste or agents have been removed.

Methods of making blended, isoporous, asymmetric (graded) films (e.g. ultrafiltration membranes) comprising two or more chemically distinct block copolymers and blended, isoporous, asymmetric (graded) films (e.g. ultrafiltration membranes) comprising two or more chemically distinct block copolymers. The generation of blended membranes by mixing two chemically distinct block copolymers in the casting solution demonstrates a pathway to advanced asymmetric block copolymer derived films, which can be used as ultrafiltration membranes, in which different pore surface chemistries and associated functionalities can be integrated into a single membrane via standard membrane fabrication, i.e. without requiring laborious post-fabrication modification steps. The block copolymers may be diblock, triblock and/or multiblock mixes and some block copolymers in the mix may be functionally modified. Triblock copolymers comprising a reactive group (e.g., sulfhydryl group) terminated block and films comprising the triblock copolymers.

The present invention relates to a mixed-matrix composition comprising polymer having a fractional free volume of at least 0.1 and porous particles.

The present invention provides, inter alia, compositions including at least one pliable layer comprising a plurality of silk fibroin nanofibrils, and at least one rigid layer comprising a plurality of mineral crystals, wherein each rigid layer is associated with at least one pliable layer, as well as methods for the production and use thereof.

The invention relates to a method for producing a solid nanocomposite material comprising nanoparticles of a metal coordination polymer with ligands CN, said nanoparticles satisfying the formula [Alk.sup.+.sub.x]M.sup.n+[M′(CN).sub.m].sup.z− where Alk is an alkali metal, x is 1 or 2, M is a transition metal, n is 2 or 3, M′ is a transition metal, m is 6 or 8, and z is 3 or 4; said M.sup.n+ cations of the coordination polymer being bound by an organometallic bond or a coordination bond to an organic group R2 of an organic graft, and said organic graft furthermore being chemically attached, preferably by a covalent bond, to at least one surface of a solid support, by reaction of a group R1 of said graft with said surface.

Described herein is a crosslinked graphene and biopolymer (e.g. lignin) based composite membrane that provides selective resistance for gases while providing water vapor permeability. Methods for making such membranes, and methods of using the membranes for dehydrating mixtures, are also described.

The present disclosure relates to methods for producing large scale nanostructured material comprising carbon nanotubes. Therefore, there is disclosed a method for making nanostructured materials comprising depositing carbon nanotubes onto at least one substrate via a deposition station, wherein depositing comprises transporting molecules to the substrate from a deposition fluid, such as liquid or gas. By using a substrate that is permeable to the carrier fluid, and allowing the carrier fluid to flow through the substrate by differential pressure filtration, a nanostructured material can be formed on the substrate, which may be removed, or may act as a part of the final component.

Disclosed is a method of modifying a metal-organic framework (MOF), the modified MOF, and methods for using the same. The method of modification can include heating a mixture comprising an azide compound and a MOF to generate a nitrene compound and nitrogen (N2) from the azide compound and covalently bonding the nitrene compound to the MOF to obtain the modified MOF.