Provided is a liquid composition including a polymerizable compound and a liquid. The polymerizable compound includes a polymerizable compound having a functional group capable of forming a covalent bond with a hydroxyl group. The liquid composition forms a porous resin by polymerization. The light transmittance at a wavelength of 550 nm measured while stirring the liquid composition is 30% or more. In a process where the liquid composition forms the porous resin by polymerization, an increase rate of a haze value of a haze measuring element before and after the polymerization is 1.0% or more.

Porous liquid-filtering membranes are provided having a boundary region substantially surrounding the pore region and having greater tear resistance than the pore region.

The present disclosure relates to a polyether block polyamide/polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) composite membrane for gas separation, and a preparation method and use thereof, and belongs to the technical field of membrane separation. In the present disclosure, an amphoteric copolymer PDMS-polyethylene oxide (PEO) (PDMS-b-PEO) is introduced into an intermediate layer to adjust the interfacial binding performance, thereby promoting preparation of an ultra-thin polyether block polyamide composite membrane. Studies have shown that the surface enrichment of PEO segments not only inhibits a dense SiO.sub.x layer formed due to a plasma treatment of a PDMS intermediate layer, but also provides additional hydrophilic sites and interfacial compatibility for the subsequent selective layer. The use of PDMS-b-PEO in an intermediate layer allows the successful preparation of a selective layer with a thickness of about 50 nm.

The present disclosure provides an acryloyloxy-terminated polydimethylsiloxane (AC-PDMS)-based thin-film composite (TFC) membrane, and a preparation method and use thereof. In the preparation method, a simple ultraviolet (UV)-induced monomer polymerization strategy based on high UV reactivity among acryloyloxy groups is adopted to prepare the AC-PDMS-based TFC membrane. The high UV reactivity among AC-PDMS monomers can induce the rapid curing of a casting solution to enable the formation of an ultra-thin selective layer and the inhibition of pore penetration for a substrate. By optimizing a UV wavelength, an irradiation time, and a polymer concentration, the prepared AC-PDMS-based TFC membrane has a CO.sub.2 penetration rate of 9,635 GPU and a CO.sub.2/N.sub.2 selectivity of 11.5. The UV-induced monomer polymerization strategy based on material properties provides a novel efficient strategy for preparing an ultra-thin PDMS-based membrane, which can be used for molecular separation.

Methods that expand the properties of laser-induced graphene (LIG) and the resulting LIG having the expanded properties. Methods of fabricating laser-induced graphene from materials, which range from natural, renewable precursors (such as cloth or paper) to high performance polymers (like Kevlar). With multiple lasing, however, highly conductive PEI-based LIG could be obtained using both multiple pass and defocus methods. The resulting laser-induced graphene can be used, inter alia, in electronic devices, as antifouling surfaces, in water treatment technology, in membranes, and in electronics on paper and food Such methods include fabrication of LIG in controlled atmospheres, such that, for example, superhydrophobic and superhydrophilic LIG surfaces can be obtained. Such methods further include fabricating laser-induced graphene by multiple lasing of carbon precursors. Such methods further include direct 3D printing of graphene materials from carbon precurors. Application of such LIG include oil/water separation, liquid or gas separations using polymer membranes, anti-icing, microsupercapacitors, supercapacitors, water splitting catalysts, sensors, and flexible electronics.

In a first aspect, the present disclosure relates to a method for forming a diamond membrane, comprising: providing a substrate having an amorphous dielectric layer thereon, the amorphous dielectric layer comprising an exposed surface, the exposed surface having an isoelectric point of less than 7, preferably at most 6; seeding diamond nanoparticles onto the exposed surface; growing a diamond layer from the seeded diamond nanoparticles; and removing a portion of the substrate from underneath the diamond layer, the removed portion extending at least up to the amorphous dielectric layer, thereby forming the diamond membrane over the removed portion.

Micro- and nanofilters with precision pore sizes and pore layout have applications in many fields including capturing circulating tumor cells and fetal cells in blood, water treatment, pathogen detection in water, etc. Methods to fabricate micro- and nanofilters not using track etching or reactive ion etching are provided, allowing easy fabrication of single layer or stack of films simultaneously, and/or stack of films on rolls. Microfilter can be made using one or more layers of material. Invention enables mass production of microfilters with lithographic quality at low cost. Isolation, enumeration and characterization of circulating tumor cells using microfilters provides (i) guides to cancer treatment selection and personalize dosage, (ii) low cost monitoring for treatment response, disease progression and recurrence, (iii) assessment of pharmacodynamic effects, (iv) information on mechanisms of resistance to therapy, and (v) cancer staging. Microfabrication methods are also applicable to fabrication of any free standing patterned polymeric films.

The present disclosure relates to a method for forming a transport mechanism for transporting at least one of a gas or a liquid. The method may comprise using a 3D printing operation to form the mechanism with an inlet and an outlet, and controlling the 3D printing operation to create the mechanism as an engineered surface structure formed in a layer-by-layer process. The method may further comprise controlling the 3D printing operation such that the engineered surface structure includes a plurality of cells propagating periodically in three dimensions, with non-intersecting, non-flat, continuously curving wall portions which form two non-intersecting domains, and where the wall portions have openings forming a plurality of flow paths extending in three orthogonal dimensions throughout from the inlet to the outlet, and such that the engineered cellular structure has wall portions having a mean curvature other than zero.

A method for increasing the thickness of a sheet of CNTs (146, 147, 246, 346), comprising: providing a wet sheet of CNTs, wherein the sheet of CNTs is either a continuous sheet of CNTs or a portion of sheet of CNTs, wherein the wet sheet of CNTs is the result of applying a process for manufacturing a sheet of CNTs; separating the wet sheet of CNTs from any filter or support element; drying the wet sheet of CNTs (146, 147, 246, 346) by applying heat (15, 25, 35) from a heat source (12, 22, 32). A method for manufacturing a continuous sheet of CNTs, comprising: in a container (41) filled with a liquid solution (42) comprising CNTs at certain concentration, submerging a vacuum tank (43) having a lower surface forming a grillage; moving an elongated filtering membrane (44) along the lower surface of the vacuum tank (43) while vacuum is applied on the elongated filtering membrane (44) in such a way that in the surface of the filtering membrane (44) opposed to the surface in contact with the lower surface of the vacuum tank (43) CNTs are deposited forming a continuous sheet of CNTs (45) of constant thickness; taking the filtering membrane (44) together with the continuous sheet of CNTs (45) out of the container (41); washing the continuous sheet of CNTs (55) disposed on the filtering membrane or on a support element (54) in a second container (51) filled with cleaning solution (52); taking the continuous sheet of CNTs (55) together with the filtering membrane or the support element (54) out of the second container (51); separating the continuous sheet of CNTs (55) from the filtering membrane or the support element (54); drying the continuous sheet of CNTs (55) by applying the method for increasing the thickness of a sheet of CNTs.

The invention relates in general to porous graphene-based films. In particular, the invention relates to a process for the preparation of a porous graphene-based films comprising reduced graphene oxide. The invention also relates to porous graphene-based films prepared by the process and to uses of such porous graphene-based films, in particular, in filtration applications. The invention further relates to porous multi-zone graphene-based films comprising different zones of different porosity.