A method for making a composite polyamide membrane including a porous support and a thin film polyamide layer, wherein the method includes: (i) applying a polar solution comprising a polyfunctional amine monomer and a non-polar solution comprising a polyfunctional acyl halide monomer to a surface of a porous support and interfacially polymerizing the monomers to form a thin film polyamide layer; (ii) treating the thin film polyamide layer with a polyfunctional arene compound; and (iii) exposing the thin film polyamide layer to nitrous acid; wherein the polar and non-polar solutions further comprises at least one of the following: (A) at least one of the solutions further comprises a tri-hydrocarbyl phosphate compound represented by Formula (I): and (B) the non-polar solution further comprises an acid-containing monomer comprising a C.sub.2-C.sub.20 hydrocarbon moiety substituted with at least one carboxylic acid functional group or salt thereof and at least one amine-reactive functional group. ##STR00001##

Provided is a post-formation process for preparation of a highly permeable thin film composite membranes for reverse osmosis, particularly for use with brackish water at low energy conditions. The process includes contacting a polyamide discrimination layer of a TFC membrane with a solution containing an oxidizing agent to form a treated membrane, followed by contacting the treated membrane with a solution containing a reducing agent. The resulting membrane exhibits enhanced water flux while maintaining salt rejection. Also provided are reverse osmosis membranes prepared in accord with the method, and modules containing the highly permeable thin film composite membranes, and methods of purifying water using the membranes or modules.

Provided herein are methods for making a freeze-cast material having a internal structure, the methods comprising steps of: determining the internal structure of the material, the internal structure having a plurality of pores, wherein: each of the plurality of pores has directionality; and the step of determining comprises: selecting a temperature gradient and a freezing front velocity to obtain the determined internal structure based on the selected temperature gradient and the selected freezing front velocity; directionally freezing a liquid formulation to form a frozen solid, the step of directionally freezing comprising: controlling the temperature gradient and the freezing front velocity to match the selected temperature gradient and the selected freezing front velocity during directionally freezing; wherein the liquid formulation comprises at least one solvent and at least one dispersed species; and subliming the at least one solvent out of the frozen solid to form the material.

The invention relates to extracorporeal blood circuits, and components thereof (e.g., hollow fiber membranes, potted bundles, and blood tubing), including 0.005% to 10% (w/w) surface modifying macromolecule. The extracorporeal blood circuits have an antithrombogenic surface and can be used in hemofiltration, hemodialysis, hemodiafiltration, hemoconcentration, blood oxygenation, and related uses.

A substrate surface may be modified with a polymer coating to render the surface suitable for plasma functionalization. The polymer coating is deposited onto the surface at ambient temperature to a thickness of less than 0.1 μm. The polymer coating includes poly(p-xylylene) or a derivative thereof, and is capable of penetrating into pores of a porous substrate while no substantially altering the porosity of the substrate. The coated substrate is selected from a material lacking a primary or secondary aliphatic hydrogen atom.

The present invention is directed to asymmetric membranes and methods for making such membranes, wherein the membranes have a void volume and nanoparticles located in the void volume. The membranes have a variety of applications, including blood purification, water purification, water decontamination and bioprocessing.

Provided are certain membranes useful in the filtration of liquids and removal of various contaminants therein. In certain aspects the membranes have as one component a polyamide such as Nylon 11 and/or Nylon 12. Also provided is methodology for manufacturing such membranes and their use in filtration and purification of liquids. Membranes of the disclosure thus prepared exhibit superior acid stability when compared to polyamide membranes prepared from Nylon 6 or Nylon 6,6.

Described are ion-exchange membranes that include a porous polymeric membrane and imidazole ion-exchange groups at surfaces of the membrane; ion-exchange membranes and filters that contain the ion-exchange membranes; and methods of using the ion-exchange membranes and filters for separating charged biological molecule from a liquid.

The present invention relates to an asymmetric structure moisturizing mask pack comprising a polylactide. More specifically, the present invention relates to a porous membrane mask pack prepared from copolymers of polylactide and polyvinyl alcohol, wherein the skin contact surface of the mask pack is hydrophilic and the back surface thereof is hydrophobic.

The present invention relates to a composite semipermeable membrane including: a supporting membrane including a substrate and a porous supporting layer; and a separation functional layer disposed on the porous supporting layer, in which the separation functional layer includes: a crosslinked polyamide; and a hydrophilic polymer which is a polymer of a monomer having an ethylenically unsaturated group, and a surface of the separation functional layer has a ratio of the number of oxygen atoms to the number of nitrogen atoms (O/N ratio), both determined by X-ray photoelectron spectrometry, of 1.5-10, and a standard deviation of the O/N ratio of 0.15 or larger.