The present invention provides a method for manufacturing a porous membrane having high water permeability and hydrophilicity, which is not easily affected by a treatment such as washing, the method including: preparing, as a substrate, a membrane having a plurality of pores, which includes a water-insoluble resin such as polysulfone and a water-soluble resin including a monomer unit of polyvinylpyrrolidone or a monomer unit of polyvinyl alcohol; and irradiating the substrate with an electron beam in the presence of an aqueous solvent to crosslink at least a part of the water-soluble resin.

A separation membrane sheet that causes a specific fluid component to selectively permeate therethrough, comprises: a first porous layer; and a resin composition layer formed on the first porous layer. The resin composition layer has a filtration residue fraction of greater than or equal to 20% and less than or equal to 90%; and contains a resin having an ionic group or a salt thereof, and has an ion exchange capacity of greater than or equal to 1 millimole equivalent per 1 g of a dry resin in a filtration residue.

A system and method to increase surface friction across a hydrophobic, anti-fouling, and oleophobic coated substrate. The substrate has a hydrophobic surface defined by a surface friction. The system works to increases the surface friction, or roughness, across the hydrophobic surface. The increase in surface friction is accomplished by generating power through an ion source to create an ion cloud. The ion cloud is generated in proximity to the substrate. The ions interact with the hydrophobic surface to create a roughing effect thereon. A gas carrier device introduces an inert carrier gas through the ion cloud to increase density of the ions, which in turn increases surface friction. The system is variable, selectively increasing and decreasing surface friction by: varying the duration that the hydrophobic surface is exposed to the ion cloud; varying power applied to ion source; and varying distance between the ion cloud and the hydrophobic surface.

The present invention relates to a melt-joined filter element with improved testability after dry steaming or alternatively after sterilization by irradiation, to a method for producing the filter element according to the invention, and to the use of the filter element for filtering solutions.

Disclosed is a hollow fiber membrane module including a case and a hollow fiber membrane built in the case, wherein the hollow fiber membrane contains a polysulfone-based polymer and a hydrophilic polymer, and satisfies the following (A) and (B), and an amount of an eluted substance contained in a liquid obtained by circulating ultrapure water heated at 37° C. through a passage of an inner surface side of the hollow fiber membrane for 4 hours at 200 mL/min is 1.0 mg/m.sup.2 or less: (A) an insoluble component accounts for less than 3% by mass of the total mass of the hollow fiber membrane when the hollow fiber membrane is dissolved in N,N-dimethylacetamide; and (B) a flexible layer exists on a surface of a functional layer in a wet state and the flexible layer has a thickness of 7 nm or more. The present invention provides a hollow fiber membrane module including a hollow fiber membrane containing a polysulfone-based polymer and a hydrophilic polymer built therein, which elutes little eluted substance and exhibits high biocompatibility, while change in performance due to crosslinking of the hydrophilic polymer is suppressed.

A composite membrane for selectively pervaporating a first liquid from a mixture comprising the first liquid and a second liquid. The composite membrane includes a porous substrate comprising opposite first and second major surfaces, and a plurality of pores. A PVP- or PVL-containing polymer is disposed in at least some of the pores so as to form a layer having a thickness within the porous substrate and/or disposed on top of the pores to form a layer.

A method for making a gas separation membrane comprises dissolving and mixing poly(ether-b-amide) (Pebax) copolymer and acrylate-terminated polyethylene glycol oligomers (PEGDA) in a solvent, casting the polymer solution into a mold, removing the solvent to form a film, adding a photoinitiator to the film and irradiating the film with ultraviolet radiation to induce crosslinking of the PEGDA in the film, producing XLPEGDA, and submerging the film after exposure in a crosslinking solution to form crosslinked Pebax (XLPebax) in the film, wherein the crosslinking solution comprises one of a diisocyanate, a diisocyanate derivative and a combination of a diiscyanate and a diisocyanate derivative.

A membrane for cultivating adherent or suspension cells, in particular adherent cells. The membrane permits adhesion and proliferation of the cells due to the irradiation of the wet or dry membrane with gamma or beta rays or an electron beam in a dose of from 12.5 to 175 kGy in the presence of oxygen. The resulting membrane may be used without any pre-treatment with surface-modifying substances. A method for preparing such an irradiated membrane for cultivating adherent or suspension cells. Methods of using such a membrane for cultivating adherent or suspension cells.

Disclosed herein is an improved membrane, separator and/or method for forming a multilayer microporous membrane for use in an improved battery separator, particularly a battery separator for a lithium ion secondary battery. Also disclosed herein is the multilayer microporous membrane formed by this method, which has properties that compete with or exceed those of wet process, coated or uncoated, membranes that are also useable in battery separators. Also disclosed are battery separators comprising the multilayer microporous membrane and batteries, vehicles, or devices comprising the separators. The method may comprise at least the following steps: (1) forming a stretched first non-porous precursor film that has pores due to the stretching of a first non-porous precursor film; (2) separately forming a second stretched non-porous precursor film that has pores due to the stretching of a second non-porous precursor film; and then (3) laminating the stretched first non-porous precursor and the stretched second non-porous precursor.

A low cost, high selectivity asymmetric polyimide/polyethersulfone (PES) blend hollow fiber membrane, a method of making the membrane and its use for a variety of liquid, gas, and vapor separations such as deep desulfurization of gasoline and diesel fuels, ethanol/water separations, pervaporation dehydration of aqueous/organic mixtures, CO.sub.2/CH.sub.4, CO.sub.2/N.sub.2, H.sub.2/CH.sub.4, He/CH.sub.4, O.sub.2/N.sub.2, H.sub.2S/CH.sub.4, olefin/paraffin, iso/normal paraffins separations, and other light gas mixture separations. The polyimide/PES blend hollow fiber membrane is fabricated from a blend of a polyimide polymer and PES and showed surprisingly unique gas separation property with higher selectivities than either the polyimide hollow fiber membrane without PES polymer or the PES hollow fiber membrane without PES polymer for gas separations such as for H.sub.2/CH.sub.4, He/CH.sub.4, H.sub.2S/CH.sub.4, CO.sub.2/CH.sub.4 separations.