Described herein is a graphene material such as graphene oxide and polymer based selectively permeable element that provides selective permeability between polar and non-polar molecules such as fluid, gas or vapor. The methods for making these selectively permeable elements and related devices are also described.

Disclosed is a membrane surface modification method. The method is applicable to a variety of hydrophobic membranes by doping selected inorganic particles. One act of the method involves the in-situ embedment of the inorganic particles onto the membrane surface by dispersing the particles in a non-solvent bath for polymer precipitation. Further membrane surface modification can be achieved by hydrothermally growing new inorganic phase on the embedded particles. The embedment of particles is for the subsequent phase growth.

The two-dimensional metal carbide desalination membrane includes a stack of two-dimensional metal carbide layers. A two-dimensional metal carbide included in the two-dimensional metal carbide layers may have the formula Ti.sub.3C.sub.2T.sub.x, where T represents a terminating functional group, and x represents a number of the terminating functional groups. The terminating group may be oxygen, hydroxide (OH), fluorine or combinations thereof. The two-dimensional metal carbide desalination membrane includes nano-channels which are selectively permeable to ions. The two-dimensional metal carbide desalination membrane is selectivity permeable to a number of different cations, including Li.sup.+, Na.sup.+, K.sup.+, Mg.sup.2+, Ca.sup.2+, Ni.sup.2+ and Al.sup.3+, with counter Cl.sup.? anions. Permeation rates depend on the charges of the cations and the ions' hydrated radius, with a critical point around 4.0 ?. The two-dimensional metal carbide desalination membranes can be used as desalination and/or water filtration membranes.

A microporous polymeric composition including a matrix polymer having a fractional free volume of at least 0.1 and dispersed particles having a hypercrosslinked polymer.

Polymer composition comprising a) an oligo- or polyurethane U of the formula (I) wherein k and n independently are numbers from 1 to 100, m is from the range 1-100, (X) is a block of formula (II) and (Y) is a block of the formula (III), (A) is a residue of an aliphatic or aromatic diisocyanate linker, (B) is a residue of a linear oligo- or polysiloxane containing alkanol end groups, and optionally further containing one or more aliphatic ether moieties, and (C) is an aromatic oligo- or polyarylene ether block that is at least partly etherified at its terminal positions with one alkylene glycol unit; or a mixture of such oligo- or polyurethanes; and b) one or more further organic polymers P selected from the group consisting of polyvinyl pyrrolidone, polyvinyl acetates, cellulose acetates, polyacrylonitriles, polyamides, polyolefines, polyesters, polyarylene ethers, polysulfones, polyethersulfones, polyphenylenesulfones, polycarbonates, polyether ketones, sulfonated polyether ketones, polyamide sulfones, polyvinylidene fluorides, polyvinylchlorides, polystyrenes and polytetrafluorethylenes, copolymers thereof, and mixtures thereof; preferably selected from the group consisting of polysulfones, polyphenylenes, polyethersulfones, polyvinylidene fluorides, polyamides, cellulose acetate and mixtures thereof.

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A hybrid polymer/inorganic membrane with dual transport pathways overcomes traditional limitations. The inorganic phase consists of a metal-organic framework (MOF), which is an ideal inorganic dispersant to construct dual transport pathways as the crystalline porous structure of MOFs is more amenable to molecular diffusion than polymers. Previous hybrid membrane research has failed to achieve sufficiently high loadings to establish a percolative network necessary for dual transport, often due to mechanical failure of the membrane at high loading. Using polysulfone and UiO-66-NH.sub.2 MOF as a model system, we achieve high MOF loadings (50 wt %) and observe the evolution from single mode to dual transport regimes. The newly formed percolative pathway through the MOF acts as a molecular highway for gases. As the MOF loading increases to 30 wt %, CO.sub.2 permeability increases linearly from 5.6 barrers in polysulfone homopolymer to 18 barrers. Crucially, between 30 and 40 wt %, a percolative MOF network arises and the CO.sub.2 permeability dramatically rises from 18 to 46 barrers; an eight-fold increase over pure polysulfone, while maintaining selectivity over methane and nitrogen near the pure polymer at 24 and 26, respectively.

A composite membrane for separations includes a substrate sheet with a non-woven array of nanotubes, and a dopant incorporated with the substrate sheet to form a non-porous, permeable composite. The composite membrane may be used to separate a target gas from a liquid by mounting the composite membrane in a housing chamber, and conditioning a permeate side of the chamber to establish a driving force for the target gas across the non-porous, permeable composite membrane.

Disclosed herein are ceramic selective membranes and methods of forming the ceramic selective membranes by forming a selective silica ceramic on a porous membrane substrate. Representative ceramic selective membranes include ion-conductive membranes (e.g., proton-conducting membranes) and gas selective membranes. Representative uses for the membranes include incorporation into fuel cells and redox flow batteries (RFB) as ion-conducting membranes.

Disclosed herein are ceramic selective membranes and methods of forming the ceramic selective membranes by forming a selective silica ceramic on a porous membrane substrate. Representative ceramic selective membranes include ion-conductive membranes (e.g., proton-conducting membranes) and gas selective membranes. Representative uses for the membranes include incorporation into fuel cells and redox flow batteries (RFB) as ion-conducting membranes.

The organic-inorganic composite of the present invention includes an organic compound having a carbonyl group, an inorganic compound containing a metal component, and a silver component. The ratio of the number of metal atoms in the inorganic compound to the number of carbon atoms in the organic compound is from 0.04 to 1.60, and the ratio of the number of silver atoms in the silver component to the number of carbon atoms in the organic compound is from 0.07 to 0.55. The organic-inorganic composite may include, for example, an inorganic compound having a metal matrix structure containing a metal M and oxygen, an organic compound having a carbonyl group, and silver ions. The carbonyl group is bonded to a side chain R.sup.1 of the organic compound and has an end group R.sup.2.