Provided herein are gas permeable membranes comprising an amine-containing selective layer on top of a gas permeable polymer support as well as methods of making and using thereof. The membranes are useful for the separation of CO.sub.2 from N.sub.2-containing gases.

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.

A preparation method of separation membrane is provided. First, a polyimide composition including a dissolvable polyimide, a crosslinking agent, and a solvent is provided. The dissolvable polyimide is represented by formula 1:

##STR00001##

wherein B is a tetravalent organic group derived from a tetracarboxylic dianhydride containing aromatic group, A is a divalent organic group derived from a diamine containing aromatic group, A′ is a divalent organic group derived from a diamine containing aromatic group and carboxylic acid group, and 0.1≦X≦0.9. The crosslinking agent is an aziridine crosslinking agent, an isocyanate crosslinking agent, an epoxy crosslinking agent, a diamine crosslinking agent, or a triamine crosslinking agent. A crosslinking process is performed on the polyimide composition. The polyimide composition which has been subjected to the crosslinking process is coated on a substrate to form a polyimide membrane. A dry phase inversion process is performed on the polyimide membrane.

A preparation method of separation membrane is provided. First, a polyimide composition including a dissolvable polyimide, a crosslinking agent and a solvent is provided. The dissolvable polyimide is represented by formula 1:

##STR00001## wherein B is a tetravalent organic group derived from a tetracarboxylic dianhydride containing aromatic group, A is a divalent organic group derived from a diamine containing aromatic group, A′ is a divalent organic group derived from a diamine containing aromatic group and carboxylic acid group, and 0.1≦X≦0.9. The crosslinking agent is an aziridine crosslinking agent, an isocyanate crosslinking agent, an epoxy crosslinking agent, a diamine crosslinking agent, or a triamine crosslinking agent. A crosslinking process is performed on the polyimide composition. The polyimide composition which has been subjected to the crosslinking process is coated on a substrate to form a polyimide membrane. A wet phase inversion process is performed on the polyimide membrane.

Embodiments of the invention provide methods for preparing high density membrane protein membranes by slow, controlled removal of detergent from mixtures of detergent, block copolymers and membrane protein mixtures. Membranes created by this method are also provided. The structure of these membranes may be varied by varying the amount of membrane protein.

A porous membrane is made from a poly(phenylene ether) copolymer containing 10 to 40 mole percent repeat units derived from 2-methyl-6-phenylphenol and 60 to 90 mole percent repeat units derived from 2,6-dimethylphenol; and a block copolymer containing backbone or pendant blocks of poly(C.sub.2-4 alkylene oxide). The porous membrane is made by dissolving the poly(phenylene ether) copolymer in a water-miscible polar aprotic solvent to form a membrane-forming composition; and phase-inverting the membrane forming-composition in a first non-solvent composition to form the porous membrane. A method of making a hollow fiber by coextrusion through a spinneret having an annulus and a bore, includes coextruding the membrane-forming composition through the annulus, and a first non-solvent composition through the bore, into a second non-solvent composition to form the hollow fiber.

Provided is a method for preparing a gas separation membrane, the method including forming a porous layer by coating a hydrophilic polymer solution on a porous substrate; and forming an active layer by coating a composition for forming an active layer including a polymer of Chemical Formula 1 on the porous layer, ##STR00001## wherein in Chemical Formula 1, n is the number of a repeating unit, and is an integer of 500 to 3,000, and R1 to R5 are the same as or different from each other, and each independently is hydrogen, an alkyl group, or —(C═O)R6, and R6 is an alkyl group, wherein the polymer of Chemical Formula 1 is included in an amount from 1% by weight to 5% by weight based on the composition for forming an active layer, and a gas separation membrane prepared using the same.

A membrane for the purification of blood, or a dialysis membrane, in hollow-fiber membrane or flat membrane geometry, made of a composite assembled from at least a base membrane based on at least one polysulfone or a polyphenylsulfone with at least one pore-forming hydrophilic additive and at least one functional layer arranged on the base membrane, whereby the functional layer is formed from at least one polymeric polycationic bonding agent and at least one polymeric polyanion, whereby the base membrane is made of a material which is selected from: a polysulfone [PSU], a sulfonated polysulfone [SPSU], a polyethersulfone [PES], a sulfonated polyethersulfone [SPES], a polyphenylsulfone [PPSU], a sulfonated polyphenylsulfone [SPPSU]; and mixtures of these.

A method for producing a gas separation membrane containing fine particles uniformly dispersed in a resin, including the following (A) and (B): (A) a step of mixing the fine particles with a matrix resin, the amount of the fine particles with respect to the entire mass of the mixture being adjusted to 1 mass % to 50 mass %, to thereby prepare a master batch; and (B) a step including dissolving the master batch in a solvent, applying the prepared solution onto a substrate, and evaporating the solvent.

The present invention relates to a copolymer containing a constitutional unit derived from acrylic acid cesium salt or acrylic acid rubidium salt and a constitutional unit derived from vinyl alcohol, a resin composition containing the copolymer, a carbon dioxide gas separation membrane which can be manufactured with the resin composition, a carbon dioxide gas separation membrane module having the separation membrane, and a carbon dioxide gas separation apparatus including at least one type of the module.