Membranes suitable for use in membrane distillation are provided. Such membranes may include nano-fibrous layers with adjustable pore sizes. The membranes may include a hydrophobic nanofibrous scaffold and a thin hydrophilic protecting layer that can significantly reduce fouling and scaling problems.

Grafted, asymmetric, porous, ultra high molecular weight polyethylene membranes having a bubble point between about 5.38 bar (78 psi) and 11.03 bar (160 psi) are disclosed. Monomers are grafted to the porous polymeric membrane surfaces, the monomers having one or more of neutral groups or ion exchange groups grafted to one or more surfaces of the membrane. A combination of two photoinitiators can be used to graft the monomers to the asymmetric, porous, ultra high molecular weight membrane resulting in grafted microporous membranes that have water flow rates that are at least 50% of the water flow rate of an ungrafted, asymmetric, porous ultra high molecular weight polyethylene membrane. The grafted membrane also wets in water.

The present invention provides a porous hollow fiber membrane suitable for the removal of minute substances, e.g., viruses, contained in a liquid. The present invention relates to a porous hollow fiber membrane which is provided with a separation-functioning layer containing a fluororesin, has a gas diffusion amount of 0.5 to 5.0 mL/m.sup.2/hr as measured in a diffusion test, and also has foaming points at a density of 0.005 to 0.2 point/cm.sup.2 as measured in a foaming test under the immersion in 2-propanol.

A method of forming a frame around a membrane stack for a laterally-fed membrane chromatography device is provided. The method includes placing a membrane stack having one or more membrane layers on a bottom surface of body of a master mold, the body having opposed side walls and opposed end walls, the opposed side walls spaced apart by a distance greater than a length of the membrane stack, the opposed end walls spaced apart by a distance greater than a width of the membrane stack; placing a cap on the body of the master mold to enclose the membrane stack in the master mold, the cap having at least one opening for injecting a material into a space defined by the end walls of the master mold, the side walls of the master mold, end walls of the membrane stack side walls of the membrane stack, the bottom surface of the body and an inner surface of the cap; injecting the material into the space around the membrane stack; and curing the material to form a frame around the membrane stack.

A hydrophilic graphitic material is provided that may be formed by heating a graphitic material to a temperature between about 150 C. to about 1400 C. for an extended period of time under an inert atmosphere. Annealing CNT film at 500 to 1400 removes amorphous carbon to produce purified CNT film. The purified CNT film can be further densified with the treatment of alkylphosphonic acid or alkyldiphophonic acid and heating to produce a hydrophilic, densified CNT film which is mechanically robust and does not adhere to other solid surfaces. These films can be used as filtration membranes with superior membrane fouling resistance among other uses.

A filtration membrane coating comprising a hydrophilic polymer, a surfactant, and one or more charged compounds, each containing one or more sulfonate functionalities and one or more linkable functionalities selected from the group consisting of amine, monochlorotriazine, and dichlorotriazine. The hydrophilic polymer and surfactant form a thin primer layer which is also superhydrophilic. The primer layer improves flux, and enables improved adhesion of the one or more charged compounds, which form a charged dye layer on top of the primer layer when enhances rejection of charged divalent ions. The coating can be applied while the membrane is packaged in its final form, such as in a spiral wound or other configuration.

Provided is a method for preparing a gas separation membrane, the method including forming a porous layer by coating a hydrophilic polymer solution on a porous substrate; and forming an active layer by coating a composition for forming an active layer including a polymer of Chemical Formula 1 on the porous layer,

##STR00001## wherein in Chemical Formula 1, n is the number of a repeating unit, and is an integer of 500 to 3,000, and R1 to R5 are the same as or different from each other, and each independently is hydrogen, an alkyl group, or (CO)R6, and R6 is an alkyl group, wherein the polymer of Chemical Formula 1 is included in an amount from 1% by weight to 5% by weight based on the composition for forming an active layer, and a gas separation membrane prepared using the same.

A method of preparing a hybrid membrane, the method including: evenly mixing a granular material and a dispersant, to yield a dispersion solution; evenly mixing a polymer and an organic solvent, to yield a matrix solution; adding the matrix solution to the dispersion solution to yield a mixed solution; heating the mixed solution to remove the dispersant, to yield a casting solution; and coating the casting solution on a substrate, followed by removal of the organic solvent, to yield a hybrid membrane.

Membranes suitable for use in membrane distillation are provided. Such membranes may include nano-fibrous layers with adjustable pore sizes. The membranes may include a hydrophobic nano fibrous scaffold and a thin hydrophilic protecting layer that can significantly reduce fouling and scaling problems.

A method including contacting a contaminated aqueous stream including water and one or more contaminants with a coated porous substrate including a porous substrate coated with a hydrophilic and oleophobic coating to provide a treated water including water that passes through the coated porous substrate, wherein a level of the one or more contaminants in the treated water is less than the level of the one or more contaminants in the contaminated aqueous stream, and wherein the contaminated aqueous stream includes a waste or catchment stream from a hydrocarbon (HC) exploration, production, transportation, or storage facility, a chemical production, transportation, or storage facility, or a combination thereof.