Disclosed herein a monovalent-ion-selective composite membrane comprising a polymeric cation exchange membrane and a metal-oxide-based layer, wherein said metal-oxide-based layer comprises a metal oxide or an organic-inorganic hybrid polymer, of e.g. Zn, Al, Mg, Si, Cu, W, Ni, or Ti. Also disclosed are the methods for the preparation of the membrane, and also electrodialysis assemblies comprising the membranes.

A provided stretched porous polytetrafluoroethylene membrane has a node-fibril structure including a plurality of nodes and a fibril connecting the plurality of nodes. A ratio of an average length of the plurality of nodes in a thickness direction of the stretched porous polytetrafluoroethylene membrane to a thickness of the stretched porous polytetrafluoroethylene membrane is 10% or more. The above stretched porous polytetrafluoroethylene membrane is less likely to suffer breakage. In the above stretched porous polytetrafluoroethylene membrane, assuming that there is a cuboid region having an upper surface and a lower surface respectively positioned at one membrane surface and the other membrane surface of the stretched porous polytetrafluoroethylene membrane, the number of the nodes included in the region may be 4 or less per micrometer thickness, the upper surface and the lower surface each having dimensions of 280 μm×280 μm.

A provided stretched porous polytetrafluoroethylene membrane has a node-fibril structure including a plurality of nodes and a fibril connecting the plurality of nodes. A ratio of an average length of the plurality of nodes in a thickness direction of the stretched porous polytetrafluoroethylene membrane to a thickness of the stretched porous polytetrafluoroethylene membrane is 10% or more. The above stretched porous polytetrafluoroethylene membrane is less likely to suffer breakage. In the above stretched porous polytetrafluoroethylene membrane, assuming that there is a cuboid region having an upper surface and a lower surface respectively positioned at one membrane surface and the other membrane surface of the stretched porous polytetrafluoroethylene membrane, the number of the nodes included in the region may be 4 or less per micrometer thickness, the upper surface and the lower surface each having dimensions of 280 μm×280 μm.

A device for obtaining protein-enriched fractions from human or animal milk comprises a delipidating unit for reducing a lipid content in the human or animal milk to obtain delipidated milk and a filtering unit for increasing a protein concentration of the delipidated milk to obtain the protein-enriched fraction, comprising a replaceable filter having a nominal molecular weight limit of 2 kDa or more, in particular of 5 kDa or more.

A device for obtaining protein-enriched fractions from human or animal milk comprises a delipidating unit for reducing a lipid content in the human or animal milk to obtain delipidated milk and a filtering unit for increasing a protein concentration of the delipidated milk to obtain the protein-enriched fraction, comprising a replaceable filter having a nominal molecular weight limit of 2 kDa or more, in particular of 5 kDa or more.

In this disclosure, a process of recycling acid, base and the salt reagents required in the Li recovery process is introduced. A membrane electrolysis cell which incorporates an oxygen depolarized cathode is implemented to generate the required chemicals onsite. The system can utilize a portion of the salar brine or other lithium-containing brine or solid waste to generate hydrochloric or sulfuric acid, sodium hydroxide and carbonate salts. Simultaneous generation of acid and base allows for taking advantage of both chemicals during the conventional Li recovery from brines and mineral rocks. The desalinated water can also be used for the washing steps on the recovery process or returned into the evaporation ponds. The method also can be used for the direct conversion of lithium salts to the high value LiOH product. The method does not produce any solid effluent which makes it easy-to-adopt for use in existing industrial Li recovery plants.

In this disclosure, a process of recycling acid, base and the salt reagents required in the Li recovery process is introduced. A membrane electrolysis cell which incorporates an oxygen depolarized cathode is implemented to generate the required chemicals onsite. The system can utilize a portion of the salar brine or other lithium-containing brine or solid waste to generate hydrochloric or sulfuric acid, sodium hydroxide and carbonate salts. Simultaneous generation of acid and base allows for taking advantage of both chemicals during the conventional Li recovery from brines and mineral rocks. The desalinated water can also be used for the washing steps on the recovery process or returned into the evaporation ponds. The method also can be used for the direct conversion of lithium salts to the high value LiOH product. The method does not produce any solid effluent which makes it easy-to-adopt for use in existing industrial Li recovery plants.

Provided is a porous polytetrafluoroethylene membrane in which an absolute value of a difference in lightness between one principal surface and the other principal surface is 1.0 or more, where the lightness is lightness L* of CIE 1976 (L*, a*, b*) color space specified in JIS Z8781-4: 2013. The porous polytetrafluoroethylene membrane may be colored black or gray. The porous polytetrafluoroethylene membrane provided can have properties with a reduced coloring-induced deterioration.

A method for treatment of wastewater includes passing influent wastewater through an anaerobic, anoxic, or bioelectrochemical bioreactor to produce an effluent. The membrane bioreactor includes a membrane with pores having a nominal pore size less than the smallest measured biopolymers and organic nanoparticles in the influent wastewater, thereby preventing them from entering and blocking membrane pores, and further comprising degrading dissolved organics smaller than 20 nm in the influent wastewater within the membrane bioreactor before entering membrane pores.

A method for treatment of wastewater includes passing influent wastewater through an anaerobic, anoxic, or bioelectrochemical bioreactor to produce an effluent. The membrane bioreactor includes a membrane with pores having a nominal pore size less than the smallest measured biopolymers and organic nanoparticles in the influent wastewater, thereby preventing them from entering and blocking membrane pores, and further comprising degrading dissolved organics smaller than 20 nm in the influent wastewater within the membrane bioreactor before entering membrane pores.