A membrane including a polymer substrate having pore channels and a metal-organic framework disposed on the polymer substrate. Methods of producing the membrane are described. Methods of separating gases using the membrane are also provided.

In one embodiment, a separation membrane includes: a porous support structure, wherein the porous support structure comprises a system of continuous pores connecting an inlet of the separation membrane to an outlet of the separation membrane; and at least one alkali metal hydroxide disposed within pores of the porous support structure. Other aspects and embodiments of the disclosed inventive concepts will become apparent from the detailed description, which, when taken in conjunction with the drawings, illustrate by way of example the principles of the invention.

A composite pervaporation laminate incorporates a thin hydrophilic film laminated on a formable macroporous support layer. The method for making the membrane involves solution casting a thin film on a carrier substrate and transferring the said film onto a macroporous support by hot pressing, such as by decal transfer. Ultra-thin defect-free film, such as less than 5 micrometers, are laminated using this method to achieve very high-water transmission rates and very low or zero gas permeation. The membrane can then be formed into a three-dimensional structure by pleating or corrugating to increase the surface area. The membrane can be used as spacers in an ERV application.

Hydrophobic flat membrane made from a vinylidene fluoride polymer with a wall, a first surface, and a second surface. The membrane has on its first surface a network structure with open pores and on its second surface a continuous skin in which pores are formed, and adjacent to the skin of the second surface a supporting layer with an isotropic pore structure across the wall thickness, wherein the supporting layer extends over at least 80% of the wall thickness and wherein the pores of the supporting layer have an average diameter of less than 1 μm. The weight average of the molecular weight M.sub.W of the vinylidene fluoride polymer lies in the range from 300 000 to 500 000 daltons, and the polydispersivity M.sub.W/M.sub.N is greater than 5.5.

The pores in the skin of the second surface have a closed perimeter in the plane of the skin and an average ratio of the extension in the direction of the longest axis thereof to the extension in the direction of the shortest axis thereof of at most 5. The pores in the first surface and second surface have an essentially isotropic distribution of their orientation. The porosity of the membrane lies in the range from 50 to 90 vol. % and the wall thickness in the range from 50 to 300 μm. The membrane has a maximum separating pore diameter d.sub.max in the range from 0.05 to 1.5 μm.

Disclosed herein are porous asymmetric silicon membranes. The membranes are characterized by high structural stability, and as such are useful as anode components in lithium ion batteries.

Mesoporous membranes have shown promising separation performance with a potential to lower the energy consumption, leading to a dramatic cost reduction. Recently, an extensive effort has been made on the design of membranes which brought a significant progress toward the synthesis of well-defined porous morphologies, most of which synthesized by surfactant-template methodology. Currently, the most well-designed state-of-the-art membranes using this technique are made from metals, polymers, carbon, silica, etc. In the present invention, we demonstrate mesoporous calcium-silicate particles having superior separation capacity and optimal permeability, thereby leading to reduced energy consumption for selective separation of gases/liquids and/or the combination thereof. We explore various methods to improve the calcium-silicate membranes properties by tuning pore density during the synthesis/aging process, while favoring the formation of uniformly distributed nanopores. Lowering particle density by controlling calcium to silicon ratio along with optimizing the surface area are essential in achieving our objective.

The invention concerns methods for preparing a nanoporous silicon nitride membrane comprising (i) ablating portions of at least one side of the membrane with an electron beam to reduce the thickness of the portions to between about 0.5 and 5 nanometers, and (ii) penetrating subportions of the ablated portions of the membrane with an electron beam to form nanopores having internal surfaces which are predominantly silicon rich compared to unablated portions of the membrane.

The present invention provides a spiral membrane element in which the effective membrane area of a composite semi-permeable membrane can be increased and any decrease in rejection rate is less likely to occur. The spiral membrane element includes: a laminate including a permeation-side flow path material, a supply-side flow path material, and a composite semi-permeable membrane having a separation function layer on a surface of a porous support; a perforated central tube around which the laminate is wound; and a sealing member for preventing mixing between the supply-side flow path and a permeation-side flow path, the spiral membrane element being characterized in that the thickness of the porous support of the composite semi-permeable membrane is 80 μm to 100 μm, the permeation-side flow path material is formed from a tricot knit fabric, and the width of a groove that continues in a straight line is 0.05 mm to 0.40 mm.

The present invention relates to systems, articles, and methods for removing water from hydrocarbon fluids. In an embodiment, the invention includes a water/fuel separation system including a filter housing and a filter element disposed within the filter housing. The filter element can include a separation article including a porous polymer layer having and a porous substrate comprising a hydrophobic surface. In an embodiment, the invention includes a filter element for separating emulsified water from a hydrocarbon fluid. In an embodiment, the invention includes a method for filtering water out of a hydrocarbon fluid including passing a hydrocarbon fluid through a separation article including a polymer layer comprising polytetrafluoroethylene; and a porous substrate comprising a hydrophobic surface, the polymer layer disposed on the porous substrate.

Methods for forming an ultrathin GO membrane are provided. The method can include: dispersing a single-layered graphene oxide powder in deionized water to form a single-layered graphene oxide dispersion; centrifuging the graphene oxide dispersion to remove aggregated graphene oxide material from the single-layered graphene oxide dispersion; thereafter, diluting the single-layered graphene oxide dispersion by about ten times or more through addition of deionized water to the graphene oxide dispersion; and thereafter, passing the single-layered graphene oxide dispersion through a substrate such that a graphene oxide membrane is formed on the substrate. Filtration membranes are also provided and can include: a graphene oxide membrane having a thickness of about 1.8 nm to about 180 nm, with the graphene oxide membrane comprises about 3 to about 30 layers of graphene oxide flakes.