According to one embodiment, a composition of matter includes: a first system of continuous voids arranged in a three-dimensional matrix; a second system of continuous voids arranged in the three-dimensional matrix; and a nanoporous barrier separating the first system of continuous voids and the second system of continuous voids. The first system of continuous voids and the second system of continuous voids are interwoven but independent so as to form a plurality of channels through the three-dimensional matrix. Corresponding methods for forming the composition of matter are also disclosed.

A supported carbon molecular sieve (CMS) membrane is made by contacting a film of a carbon forming polymer on a polymer textile to form a laminate. The laminate is then heated to a temperature for a time under an atmosphere sufficient to carbonize the film and polymer textile to form the supported CMS membrane. The supported CMS membrane formed is a laminate having a carbon separating layer graphitically bonded to a carbon textile, wherein the carbon separating layer is a continuous film. The supported CMS membranes are particularly useful for separating gases such as olefins from their corresponding paraffins.

A process for separating hydrogen from a gas mixture having hydrogen and a larger gas molecule is comprised of flowing the gas mixture through a carbonized polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC) copolymer membrane having a hydrogen permeance in combination with a hydrogen/methane selectivity, wherein the combination of hydrogen permeance and hydrogen/methane selectivity is (i) at least 30 GPU hydrogen permeance and at least 200 hydrogen/methane selectivity or (ii) at least 10 GPU hydrogen permeance and at least 700 hydrogen/methane selectivity. The carbonized PVDC copolymer may be made by heating and restraining a polyvinylidene chloride copolymer film or hollow fiber having a thickness of 1 micrometer to 250 micrometers to a pretreatment temperature of 100° C. to 180° C. to form a pretreated polyvinylidene chloride copolymer film and then heating and restraining the pretreated polyvinylidene chloride copolymer film to a maximum pyrolysis temperature from 350° C. to 750° C.

A carbon membrane for fluid separation, i.e., a fiber-form carbon membrane for fluid separation, has protrusions having a height difference of at least 1 μm formed on the fiber surface. In the carbon membrane for fluid separation, adhesion between membranes is inhibited and clogging tends not to occur when a gas mixture containing water vapor is separated. A carbon membrane module for fluid separation that includes the fibrous carbon membrane for fluid separation is also disclosed.

The invention is an improved method of making an improved carbon molecular sieve (CMS) membrane in which a precursor polymer (e.g., polyimide) is pyrolyzed at a pyrolysis temperature to form a CMS membrane that is cooled to ambient temperature (about 40° C. or 30° C. to about 20° C.). The CMS membrane is then reheated to a reheating temperature of at least 250° C. to 400° C. to form the improved CMS membrane. The CMS have a novel microstructure as determined by Raman spectroscopy. The improved CMS membranes have shown an improved combination of selectivity and permeance as well as stability for separating light hydrocarbon gas molecules such as C.sub.1 to C.sub.6 hydrocarbon gases (e.g., methane, ethane, propane, ethylene, propylene, butane, butylene).

The present invention provides a carbon membrane for fluid separation that can suppress the breakage of a carbon membrane installed in a separation module during a vacuum desorption step before permeation of a fluid or during permeation of a fluid. The present invention provides a carbon membrane for fluid separation including a porous carbon support and a dense carbon layer provided on the porous carbon support, wherein the porous carbon support has an R.sub.s value of 1.0 or less, where the R.sub.s value is an R value (peak intensity of D-band (1360 cm.sup.−1)/peak intensity of G-band (1580 cm.sup.−1)) calculated from a Raman spectrum.

A pass or tube or a section thereof or U bend in a coil in a paraffin cracker having section having a pore size in the metal substrate from about 0.001 to 0.5 microns over coated with a dense metal membrane permits the permeation of one or more of H.sub.2, CH.sub.4, CO and CO.sub.2 from cracked gases moving the reaction equilibrium to the production of ethylene and reduces the load on the down-stream separation train of the steam cracker.

A method for manufacturing a porous device (10) is described. The method comprises creating (340) a carbon nanomembrane (40) on a top surface (22) of a base material (20) having latent pores (23) and etching (360) the latent pores (23) in the base material(20) to form open pores (24). The porous device (10) can be used as a filtration device.

The invention relates to carbon supported crack- and tear-free graphene membranes of large area useful for selective gas separation, method of preparation and uses thereof. In particular, the invention relates to carbon supported crack- and tear-free graphene membranes having good gas separation performance, in particular high H.sub.2 permeance and H.sub.2/CH.sub.4 selectivities.

Disclosed are a membrane structure including a carbon nanomaterial and NASICON-series ceramic particles, wherein an aqueous solution can pass through an electrode and a method of fabricating the same. There is disclosed a membrane structure of a flat membrane or hollow fiber membrane form, wherein the carbon nanomaterials are intertwisted to form a three-dimensional mesh-shaped structure and the NASICON-series ceramic particles material is combined with the three-dimensional mesh-shaped structure as a complex.