The present disclosure relates to a microporous hollow fiber filter membrane having a large inner diameter and a thin wall. The fiber can be used for sterile filtration of liquids or removal of particles from liquids. The disclosure further relates to a method for producing the membrane and a filter device comprising the membrane.

The present invention relates to a fabric for purification of water. An object of the present invention is to provide a fabric for purification of liquids which achieves at least 2 log reductions of bacteria, and viruses. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a fabric for purification of liquids which provides high flow rates in gravity fed water purification systems. The present inventors have surprisingly found that a fabric having a matrix of polymer impregnated with organosilane superimposed on a surface of the fibre of a fibrous support not only provides reduction of viruses from a liquid to be purified at low pressure drops but also removes bacteria without using a separate microfiltration membrane and also retains high flow rates.

A preparation method of an antifouling and hydrophilic polyethersulfone ultrafiltration membrane includes through the .sup.60Co-γ radiation grafting chemical modification method, evenly distributing an ionic liquid on a surface of a polyethersulfone material, wherein the ionic liquid containing unsaturated bonds is connected with the polyethersulfone material through chemical bonds, and then obtaining an asymmetric porous membrane by the immersion-precipitation phase transformation method, and finally performing Soxhlet extraction on the porous membrane, so as to migrate the grafted ionic liquid from an interior of the porous membrane to a surface of the porous membrane to be enriched, so that the adsorption and antibacterial properties of the porous membrane are improved. A mass ratio of the ionic liquid to the polyethersulfone material is in a range of (2-11):100. The ultrafiltration membrane is an asymmetric porous membrane, and has excellent antifouling properties, good pure water flux and a good BSA retention rate.

A method for controlling fiber cross-alignment in a nanofiber membrane, comprising: providing a multiple segment collector in an electrospinning device including a first and second segment electrically isolated from an intermediate segment positioned between the first and second segment, collectively presenting a cylindrical structure, rotating the cylindrical structure around a longitudinal axis proximate to an electrically charged fiber emitter; electrically grounding or charging edge conductors circumferentially resident on the first and second segment, maintaining intermediate collector electrically neutral; dispensing electrospun fiber toward the collector, the fiber attaching to edge conductors and spanning the separation space between edge conductors; attracting electrospun fiber attached to the edge conductors to the surface of the cylindrical structure, forming a first fiber layer; increasing or decreasing rotation speed of the cylindrical structure to alter the angular cross-alignment relationship between aligned nanofibers in adjacent layers, the rotation speed being altered to achieve a target relational angle.

A composite ion conducting tube is made by wrapping a support material or ion conducting sheet to from a tube having overlaps of layers that are bonded. The ion conducting sheet or tape used to make the tube may be very thin and the tube may be formed in situ by wrapping the support material and then coating with ion conducting polymer. The ion conducting tubes may be used in a pervaporation module or desalination system. The ion conducting tubes may be spirally wrapped or longitudinally wrapped and may be very thin having a tube wall thickness of no more than 25 microns.

Composite polyether block amide (PEBA) copolymer tubes incorporate an ultra-thin PEBA extruded layer that enables rapid moisture transfer and exchange through the tube. An extruded composite PEBA film may include a porous scaffold support and may be formed or incorporated into the composite PEBA tube. An extruded PEBA may be melted into pores of a porous scaffold support. Extruded PEBA may be wrapped on a mandrel or over a porous scaffold support to form a composite PEBA tube. A film layer may be applied over a wrapped composite PEBA film to secure the layers together. A support tube may be configured inside or outside of the PEBA tube.

A reverse osmosis membrane is disclosed that has a hydrogel disposed on its surface, wherein the hydrogel is formed from a crosslinked polyvinylpyrrolidone or a copolymer of vinyl pyrrolidone. The hydrogel-coated membrane resists fouling by feed water contaminants. The permeate flux rate and salt rejection of the underlying membrane are not negatively affected by the hydrogel coating.

A nanobiocatalytic membrane for a filtration system is provided which includes a filtration membrane and a plurality of nanobiocatalyst nanoparticles associated with the membrane, each of the nanobiocatalyst nanoparticles including a core, a coating at least partially surrounding the core, and a plurality of nanobiocatalysts coupled to the coating. Each of the plurality of nanobiocatalysts includes an antibacterial nanoparticle comprising bismuth, and a quorum quenching agent coupled to the antibacterial nanoparticle. A nanobiocatalyst nanoparticle for use with a water purification system is also provided. A method of forming a nanobiocatalytic membrane for a filtration system and a method of using a nanobiocatalytic membrane in a filtration system are also provided.

The present invention provides an intrinsically anti-microbial hollow fiber membrane for filtration of liquids. The membrane comprises a plurality of porous hollow bilayer membrane fibers wherein the liquid enters from outside of the fiber, passing through the porous membrane into the lumen of the fiber and coming out from the hollow ending of the fiber, wherein this configuration provides a liquid outside-in arrangement and retains the filtrate outside. It means that membrane of the invention has built in characteristics to act against microbes in order to provide the use with a safe liquid free from microbes. The outer side or outer wall of the hollow fibers may be configured to become hydrophobic whereas inner side or inner wall of the hollow fiber membrane may be configured to become hydrophilic to enhance the water permeability to a great extent. The hollow fiber membrane may be configured to give it an intrinsic anti-microbial capability. A device containing above said membrane has also been disclosed.

The invention provides a system for sanitizing fluids such as water and air. In particular, the invention provides a combination of solid chlorhexidine and a polymer matrix, for which effluents are essentially free of leached chlorhexidine. The systems enable rapid disinfecting of fluids, including in line at the point of use, and can be employed for both high volume applications and disposable single-use applications.