Cation exchange membranes and materials including silica-based ceramics, and associated methods, are provided. In some aspects, cation exchange membranes that include a silica-based ceramic that forms a coating on and/or within a porous support membrane are described. The cation exchange membranes and materials may have certain structural or chemical attributes (e.g., pore size/distribution, chemical functionalization) that, alone or in combination, can result in advantageous performance characteristics in any of a variety of applications for which selective transport of positively charged ions through membranes/materials is desired. In some embodiments, the silica-based ceramic contains relatively small pores (e.g., substantially spherical nanopores) that may contribute to some such advantageous properties. In some embodiments, the cation exchange membrane or material includes sulfonate and/or sulfonic acid groups covalently bound to the silica-based ceramic.

Composite materials for removing hydrophobic components from a fluid include a porous matrix polymer, carbon nanotubes grafted to surfaces of the porous matrix polymer, and polystyrene chains grafted to the carbon nanotubes. Examples of porous matrix polymer include polyurethanes, polyethylenes, and polypropylenes. Membranes of the composite material may be enclosed within a fluid-permeable pouch to form a fluid treatment apparatus, such that by contacting the apparatus with a fluid mixture containing water and a hydrophobic component, the hydrophobic component absorbs selectively into the membrane. The apparatus may be removed from the fluid mixture and reused after the hydrophobic component is expelled from the membrane. The composite material may be prepared by grafting functionalized carbon nanotubes to a porous matrix polymer to form a polymer-nanotube composite, then polymerizing styrene onto the carbon nanotubes of the polymer-nanotube composite.

A bilayer electrospun membranes for treating hydraulic fracking wastewater via membrane distillation, and more particularly to bilayer electrospun membranes having an omniphobic layer to prevent low-surface tension solution wicking and an oleophobic antifouling surface to prevent foulant depositing on the membrane. Nanoparticles are decorated on the omniphobic surface through electrochemical interaction, which is coated with a fluorine monomer on the nanoparticles. A zwitterionic co-polymer is grafted using self-assembly between hydroxy groups on the antifouling surface generated by alkaline treatment and anchor segment epoxy groups on zwitterionic co-polymer.

Embodiments described herein relate generally to graphene oxide membranes for fluid filtration and more specifically to graphene oxide membranes having tunable permeability, rejection rate, and flux. Some embodiments of the graphene oxide membranes disclosed herein are characterized as having a flux of at least about 2.5×10.sup.−4 gallons per square foot per day per psi with a 1 wt % lactose solution at room temperature, and a lactose rejection rate of at least 50% with a 1 wt % lactose solution.

The present disclosure provides a process for producing a modified microporous membrane, comprising (i) Providing a first solution comprising at least one first polymer and at least one epoxy functional compound; (ii) Providing a second solution comprising at least one diamine compound; (iii) Bringing the first solution and the second solution into contact, thereby obtaining a modified microporous membrane comprising at least one first polymer and the crosslinked reaction product of the at least one epoxy functional compound and the at least one diamine compound; wherein the modified microporous membrane is a hollow-fiber membrane; and wherein the first solution is a dope solution, the second solution is a bore solution, and bringing the first and second solutions into contact takes place in a spinneret.

Disclosed are methods of manufacturing a zeolite membrane, comprising: providing at least one porous substrate; and coating the at least one porous substrate with a membrane. In some embodiments, the method further comprises hydrothermally treating the membrane with a first hydrothermal treatment step with tetrapropylammonium fluoride (TPAF) and a second hydrothermal treatment step with tetraethammonium hydroxide (TEAOH). In some embodiments, coating the substrate with a membrane comprises surrounding at least a portion of the at least one porous substrate with a precursor gel, the gel comprising a gel phase and a plurality of CHA or MFI crystals; heating the at least one porous substrate and the precursor gel; washing the at least one porous substrate; drying the at least one porous substrate; and calcining the at least one porous substrate.

A fiber bundle contactor may include: a flow path defined by a conduit; a catalytic carbon fiber bundle disposed in the conduit; and an inlet allowing fluid flow into the flow path. A method may include: introducing into vessel a hydrocarbon comprising mercaptan sulfur, an aqueous caustic solution, and an oxidizer; reacting at least a portion of the mercaptan sulfur and the aqueous caustic solution to produce a mercaptide; and reacting the mercaptide and the oxidizer in the presence of a catalytic carbon fiber bundle to produce a disulfide oil.

The disclosure relates to a membrane and method for its manufacture, the method including the steps of providing of an ultrafiltration membrane, and modification of the resultant ultrafiltration membrane to provide an asymmetric porous ion exchange membrane. The modification of the ultrafiltration membrane is typically carried out by exposing said ultrafiltration membrane to a first functional reagent to provide a cross-linked ultrafiltration membrane, and then exposing said cross-lined ultrafiltration membrane to a second functional reagent to introduce positive charged groups to produce an anion exchange membrane.

A solar-thermal vapor-permeation membrane is provided. The solar-thermal vapor-permeation membrane includes a thermally conductive, microporous support layer having a feed surface, and an active separation layer adjacent the feed surface of the support layer. The support layer is capable of absorbing solar-thermal radiation. Utilization of solar energy for a membrane separation process replaces fossil-fuel derived energy with renewable energy as the driving force and does not involve the generation of undesirable greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, the solar-thermal vapor-permeation process using the provided membrane is cost effective, energy efficient, and environmentally friendly.

A method for purifying dye-containing wastewater based on a porous-polymer-modified metal carbon nanotube membrane includes: (1) preparing the porous-polymer-modified metal carbon nanotube membrane; and (2) passing the dye-containing wastewater through the porous-polymer-modified metal carbon nanotube membrane to remove dyes in the dye-containing wastewater. A device for purifying dye-containing wastewater is also disclosed. The device includes the porous-polymer-based metal carbon nanotube membrane.