A porous asymmetric membrane comprises a hydrophobic polymer comprising a poly(phenylene ether) or poly(phenylene ether) copolymer; and a polymer additive. A separation module can be fabricated from the porous asymmetric membrane. A method of forming the porous asymmetric membrane comprises: dissolving a hydrophobic polymer comprising a poly(phenylene ether) or poly(phenylene ether) copolymer and, a polymer additive in a water-miscible polar aprotic solvent to form a porous asymmetric membrane-forming composition; and phase-inverting the porous asymmetric membrane forming-composition in a first non-solvent composition to form the porous asymmetric membrane. The polymer additive comprises hydrophilic functional groups, copolymerized hydrophilic monomers, or blocks of hydrophilic monomer repeat units. For example, the polymer additive can comprise a hydrophilic polymer or amphiphilic polymer. The porous asymmetric membrane can be a flat membrane or hollow fiber.

A porous composite membrane includes a porous support layer of a poly(phenylene ether) or poly(phenylene ether) copolymer; and an amphiphilic copolymer having a hydrophobic block and a hydrophilic block or graft, wherein the hydrophobic block includes a polystyrene block, a poly(phenylene ether) block, or a poly(phenylene ether) copolymer block; and an ultrathin, cross-linked, water permeable layer, which is the reaction product of an electrophilic monomer and a nucleophilic monomer, in contact with a side of the porous support layer. The reaction product can be a polyamide that is the interfacial condensation product of: an aromatic, polyfunctional acyl halide comprising of 3 to 6 acyl halide groups per aromatic ring and an aromatic polyamine comprising at least two primary amine groups and a maximum number of primary amine groups that is less than or equal to the number of acyl halide groups on the polyfunctional acyl halide.

A porous asymmetric membrane comprises a hydrophobic polymer comprising a poly(phenylene ether) or poly(phenylene ether) copolymer; and a polymer additive. A separation module can be fabricated from the porous asymmetric membrane. A method of forming the porous asymmetric membrane comprises: dissolving a hydrophobic polymer comprising a poly(phenylene ether) or poly(phenylene ether) copolymer and, a polymer additive in a water-miscible polar aprotic solvent to form a porous asymmetric membrane-forming composition; and phase-inverting the porous asymmetric membrane forming-composition in a first non-solvent composition to form the porous asymmetric membrane. The polymer additive comprises hydrophilic functional groups, copolymerized hydrophilic monomers, or blocks of hydrophilic monomer repeat units. For example, the polymer additive can comprise a hydrophilic polymer or amphiphilic polymer. The porous asymmetric membrane can be a flat membrane or hollow fiber.

Nanopore devices including barriers using amphiphilic units, and methods of making the same, are provided herein. In some examples, a barrier between first and second fluids includes a first layer comprising a first plurality of amphiphilic units, a second layer comprising a second plurality of the amphiphilic units and contacting the first plurality of amphiphilic units. The amphiphilic units may be substantially the same size as one another. The amphiphilic units respectively may include hydrophobic blocks and hydrophilic blocks coupled to the hydrophobic blocks.

Amphiphilic triblock copolymers, articles containing the amphiphilic triblock copolymers, and methods of making these block copolymers provided. The amphiphilic triblock copolymers contain a first block (an A block) derived from isoprene, a second block (a B block) derived from a vinyl aromatic such as styrene, and a third block (a C block) derived from butadiene that have been subjected to hydrosilylation.

The present invention provides a CO.sub.2-photothermal dual-responsive nanoemulsion separation membrane, relating to the field of chemical separation technology. The membrane is woven from fibers with a three-layer structure: (i) a fiber core, (ii) a middle photothermal coating of carbon-based nanomaterials and polyvinyl alcohol, and (iii) an outer CO.sub.2-responsive functional coating synthesized via free radical polymerization of a CO.sub.2-responsive monomer and a hard monomer. The separation membrane has a pore size distribution below 0.1 m. It exhibits excellent photothermal performance, enabling significant temperature increase on the membrane surface within 15 seconds under near-infrared irradiation, thereby achieving a transition from a protonated to a deprotonated state within 1 minute.

The present invention relates to a method for producing a composite membrane, the method comprising impregnating a surface of a porous membrane substrate with an aqueous suspension comprising a mixture of at least one polyamine and at least one phospholipid; and contacting the impregnated surface with an organic phase containing a monomer to thereby deposit a polyamide layer on the impregnated surface. The present invention also relates to a composite membrane comprising at least one porous membrane substrate having nano-sized or micro-sized pores; and at least a polyamide layer disposed on a surface of the porous membrane substrate, the polyamide layer comprising at least one phospholipid dispersed therein, and wherein the polyamide layer is an interfacial polymerization product.