The present invention relates to synthetic membranes and use of these synthetic membranes for isolation of volatile organic compounds and purification of water. The synthetic membrane includes a hydrophobic polymer layer located on a polymeric membrane support layer. The invention includes a method of isolating volatile organic compounds with the synthetic membrane by contacting a volatile organic mixture with the hydrophobic polymer layer of the synthetic membrane and removing volatile organic compounds from the polymeric membrane support layer of the synthetic membrane by a process of pervaporation. The invention also includes a method of purifying water with the synthetic membrane by contacting an ionic solution with the hydrophobic polymer layer of the synthetic membrane and removing water from the polymeric membrane support layer of the synthetic membrane by a process of reverse osmosis. The invention also relates to methods of isolating non-polar gases by gas fractionation.

Disclosed is a nanoporous membrane including a porous support layer and a selective layer. The selective layer, being deposited on a surface of the porous support layer, has an effective pore size smaller than that of the porous support layer and contains an array of polymeric nanoparticles that have on their surfaces a plurality of —C(═O)XR groups. Also disclosed are methods of fabricating a nanoporous membrane described above and using the nanoporous membrane for separating a mixture that contains two solutes.

Functionalized membranes are produced via grafting of polymer brushes to the membrane surface for use, e.g., in separation and purification of biomolecules. One or more initiators are attached to the membrane surface. A reactant substrate, such as a copper metal plate, is placed adjacent the membrane. A reaction medium is then provided in fluid contact with the membrane and the reactant substrate, the reaction medium including one or more monomers, one or more ligands, and one or more solvents. The polymer brushes are grown on the membrane via Cu(0)-mediated controlled radical polymerization involving the reactant substrate and the reaction medium. This reaction process uses fewer numbers and amounts of chemicals compared to other controlled radical polymerization reactions such as ATRP. The reaction can take place at room temperature, which is more energy efficient than other CRPs which occur at a much higher temperatures. The reaction process described herein is also sixteen times faster than the standard ATRP method without sacrificing subsequent separation performance.

The present invention relates to synthetic membranes and use of these synthetic membranes for isolation of volatile organic compounds and purification of water. The synthetic membrane includes a hydrophobic polymer layer located on a polymeric membrane support layer. The invention includes a method of isolating volatile organic compounds with the synthetic membrane by contacting a volatile organic mixture with the hydrophobic polymer layer of the synthetic membrane and removing volatile organic compounds from the polymeric membrane support layer of the synthetic membrane by a process of pervaporation. The invention also includes a method of purifying water with the synthetic membrane by contacting an ionic solution with the hydrophobic polymer layer of the synthetic membrane and removing water from the polymeric membrane support layer of the synthetic membrane by a process of reverse osmosis. The invention also relates to methods of isolating non-polar gases by gas fractionation.

Described in the present application are methods of producing silane-crosslinked polymer membranes at moderate temperatures using acid catalysts that, in certain embodiments, result in membranes with unexpectedly high permeabilities and selectivities. In certain embodiments, grafting and crosslinking of the silanes occur by immersing a preformed membrane in a solution comprising a silane and an acid catalyst. Alternatively, in certain embodiments, grafting of silanes to a polymer occurs in the presence of acid catalyst in solution and subsequent casting and drying produces crosslinked membranes. In certain embodiments, an acid catalyst is a weak acid catalyst. Also described in the present application are asymmetric crosslinked polymer membranes with porous layers. In certain embodiments, crosslinked cellulose acetate membranes have permeability up to an order of magnitude greater than the permeability of unmodified cellulose acetate membranes. The membranes have porous layers with a high porosity due to their processing in moderate conditions.

A crosslinked protein-based separation membrane and application thereof. The separation membrane is formed by attaching a crosslinked protein nanomembrane to a porous membrane, the crosslinked protein nanomembrane is formed by crosslinking a two-dimensional nanomembrane which is formed by phase transition of a protein with a crosslinking agent, the separation membrane contains a dense surface layer and a support layer, the dense surface layer is the crosslinked protein nanomembrane, and the support layer is the porous membrane; the protein is any one of lysozyme, bovine serum albumin, insulin, and α-lactalbumin; the crosslinked protein-based separation membrane has a good biocompability, may serve as a dialysis membrane for blood purification, and has a higher retention ratio for large molecular proteins.

A porous membrane can include a nanoparticle.

The present invention relates to a composite semipermeable membrane comprising a substrate, a support layer, and a separation function layer, wherein: the support layer includes particles and a thermoplastic resin having a porous structure; the particles are present in the thermoplastic resin and contain at least one material selected from the group consisting of a diene polymer, an acrylic polymer, and an ethylenic polymer; and in a cross section of the support layer, taken in the laser thickness direction, 6 or more of the particles are present in an area which is 3 m from the surface of the support layer in the layer thickness direction and 3 m in the direction along which such surface extends.

Described in the present application are methods of producing silane-crosslinked polymer membranes at moderate temperatures using acid catalysts that, in certain embodiments, result in membranes with unexpectedly high permeabilities and selectivities. In certain embodiments, grafting and crosslinking of the silanes occur by immersing a preformed membrane in a solution comprising a silane and an acid catalyst. Alternatively, in certain embodiments, grafting of silanes to a polymer occurs in the presence of acid catalyst in solution and subsequent casting and drying produces crosslinked membranes. In certain embodiments, an acid catalyst is a weak acid catalyst. Also described in the present application are asymmetric crosslinked polymer membranes with porous layers. In certain embodiments, crosslinked cellulose acetate membranes have permeability up to an order of magnitude greater than the permeability of unmodified cellulose acetate membranes. The membranes have porous layers with a high porosity due to their processing in moderate conditions.

The present invention belongs to the technical field of membranes, and in particular relates to a polyamide composite reverse osmosis membrane and to a preparation method thereof. The polyamide composite reverse osmosis membrane provided by the present invention comprises: a nascent membrane and a temperature-responsive polypeptide grafted to a surface of the nascent membrane; the nascent membrane comprises a support layer and a polyamide separation layer joined to the support layer; the temperature-responsive polypeptide is a homopolymeric (L-glutamate) containing oligo(ethylene glycol). The polyamide composite reverse osmosis membrane provided in the present invention has excellent pollution resistance and oxidation resistance capabilities, has a low difficulty of cleaning, and has extremely broad market prospects.