The present invention relates, in general terms, to a composite membrane for use in filtration. The present invention also relates to a method of fabricating the composite membrane, and a method of filtrating using the composite membrane as disclosed herein. The method of fabricating a composite membrane comprising contacting a perfluorinated polymer solution with a surface of a polymer layer and drying the perfluorinated polymer solution at a relative humidity of less than 20% to form a perfluorinated polymer layer physisorbed on the surface of the polymer layer.

A thin micro-porous membrane sheet and filtering device using it is presented. The membrane sheet includes a thin porous metal sheet of thickness between 20 and 200 μm with a porous ceramic coating of thickness less than 25 μm on at least one of its surfaces. The porous metal sheet has mean pore sizes at micro and sub-micrometer level and has a surface substantially free of pores greater than 10 micrometers. The ceramic coating layer may be made of particles with a mean particle size in a range of 10 to 300 nm and contains certain sintering promoters. The ceramic coating is sintered with the metal sheet in non-oxidizing environment at lower temperatures than typical ceramic membranes. The thin membrane sheet is used to filter fine particulates from micrometers to nanometers from a liquid or gas stream. The thin membrane sheet may be assembled into a filter device having high surface area packing density and straight mini-flow channels.

The present invention provides a separation membrane that allows a separation functional layer to have less defects and that inhibits a flux of a permeation fluid from decreasing. A separation membrane of the present invention includes a separation functional layer, an interlayer, and a porous support member in this order in a stacking direction. The interlayer has a thickness of 0.1 μm to 2.5 μm. A total value of the thickness of the interlayer and a thickness of the separation functional layer is less than 4.0 μm. The interlayer contains a polymer compound, for example. A distance Ra between a Hansen solubility parameter of the polymer compound and a Hansen solubility parameter of H.sub.2O is less than 19 MPa.sup.1/2, for example.

A hollow fibre membrane having a coiled, a hemihelix, a helical or an undulated native form, in which the membrane can be stretched by up to 4-times its original length with no plastic deformation, and wherein the native form of the membrane is produced by the asymmetric flow of liquid polymer through an opening of a die or nozzle.

A hydrogen permeable membrane comprises a dense layer of a hydrogen permeable metal having first and second faces. The first face of the dense layer has a rough surface which may be formed for example by electrodeposition of a hydrogen permeable metal such as palladium. One or more co-catalysts are provided on the rough surface. The co-catalysts may comprise thin sputtered layers. The one or more co-catalysts have an area density not exceeding 20 .Math.g per cm.sup.2; and/or a majority of the co catalysts are in an outer portion of the rough surface, the outer portion of the rough surface being less than one half of a thickness of the rough surface defined by peaks of the rough surface. The membrane may be used in a cell to facilitate chemical reactions including hydrogenation, dehydrogenation and hydrodeoxygenation reactions.

A porous material comprises a porous material substrate and nanostructure arrays that are in-situ grown on the porous material substrate; wherein a surface modification layer is arranged on the surface of the nanoarrays, and the surface modification layer is configured to increase the adhesion force between the nanoarrays and the microbes. The porous material is applied to disinfection, which comprises the steps: The porous material with the surface-modified nanoarrays is placed in flowing water, the water flow passes through the gaps of the nanoarrays in a shuttling mode, and in the shuttling flowing process, microbes come into contact with the nanoarrays. The microbes are torn up through the hydrodynamic force and the adhesion force between the nanoarrays and the microbes, so that the microbes are physically ruptured to achieve disinfection.

A composite body comprising a porous layer (1) made from oxide particles connected to one another and partially to a substrate, containing at least one oxide of the elements Al, Zr, Ti or Si, and comprising a further porous layer (2) at least on one side, having oxide particles connected to one another and partially to the layer (1) and containing at least one oxide of the elements Al, Zr, Ti or Si, wherein the oxide particles in the layer (1) have a greater average particle size (d.sub.50 is 0.5 to 4 μm) than the oxide particles in the layer (2) (d.sub.50 is 0.015 to 0.15 μm), characterised in that a polymer coating (PB) is provided on or above the layer (2), containing one or more polysiloxanes. A method for producing corresponding composite bodies and to the use thereof.

A piece of substrate material is formed under heat and pressure against a cavity into a shaped substrate sheet having one or more depressions. Two substrate sheets are bonded together to form a substrate wherein the one or more depressions form one or more interior channels. The substrate, if not formed with pre-coated substrate material, is coated with a dope and quenched to form a filtering membrane. A plurality of membranes may be placed side by side to form a bundle with permeating ends of the membrane, which are open to the one or more interior channels, separated by gaps or spacers. The bundle is connected to a header to produce a module. The module can be assembled into a cassette.

The present disclosure relates to a porous liquid or a porous liquid enzyme system that includes a high surface area solid and a liquid film substantially covering the high surface area solid. The porous liquid or porous liquid enzyme may be contacted with a fluid that is immiscible with the liquid film such that a liquid-fluid interface is formed. The liquid film may facilitate mass transfer of a substance or substrate across the liquid-fluid interface. The present disclosure also provides methods of performing liquid-based extractions and enzymatic reactions utilizing the porous liquid or porous liquid enzyme of the present disclosure. The present disclosure also provides methods for selecting the components of the porous liquid or a porous liquid enzyme system and methods of self-replenishing the used liquid coating.

Nano filtering and pumping systems and methods of use thereof for nanoscale gaseous materials by utilizing materials having nanosized perforations through the materials. The perforations generally have an inner diameter similar to that of nanotubes, and in some embodiments, carbon nanotubes are disposed within the perforations. Such materials can partially organize molecules in random motion to move either some selectively or all of them, to create pressure differences and hence motive forces, or cause air flow into pressurized area. Because air is a cloud of particles separated by vacuum, the systems and method in air can be used to create motive force pushing any form of vehicle, lifting force for any form of air vehicle, air compression, power source for any form of machine, conveyor or generator, using the solar energy stored in the air in the form of heat, 24 hours a day, worldwide.