The present invention relates to high performance, crosslinked hollow-fibre membranes and a new process for manufacturing the same.

A filament production device, in particular a filament reaction-spinning production device, comprising at least one spinning nozzle unit, which is provided for producing at least one filament formed as a hollow fibre membrane from at least one polymer solution, and comprising a polymerisation unit, which is provided for initiating a polymerisation of the polymer solution, wherein the polymerisation unit is provided for initiating the polymerisation at least partially within the spinning nozzle unit.

Disclosed are hollow fibers suitable for use in dialysis in an outside-in configuration. For such fibers, it is desirable that the fiber have a low albumin sieving coefficient and have a permeability high enough to be considered a High Flux dialyzer, and it is desirable that the outer (blood-facing) surface have a sufficiently small roughness and be hydrophilic. It is desirable that there be a selective layer on the outer surface and, interiorly of that, a porous structurally supportive region, which may contain elongated macrovoids. Such a fiber may be spun through a triple-concentric spinneret that produces a bore liquid surrounded by dope surrounded by a shower. The shower and the coagulation bath may be pure water, which is a non-solvent. The process may be performed at room temperature. Spinning parameters are discussed.

The present invention relates to a polymer layered hollow fiber membrane based on poly(2,5-benzimidazole) (ABPBI), ABPBI copolymers and substituted polybenzimidazole (PBI) and a process for preparation thereof.

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.

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.

The present disclosure relates to a dialyzer comprising a bundle of semipermeable hollow fiber membranes which is suitable for blood purification, wherein the dialyzer has an increased ability to remove larger molecules while at the same time it is able to effectively remove small uremic toxins and efficiently retain albumin and larger proteins. The invention also relates to using said dialyzer in hemodialysis.

The present disclosure relates to semipermeable membranes which are suitable for blood purification, e.g. by hemodialysis, which have an increased ability to remove larger molecules while at the same time effectively retaining albumin. The membranes are characterized by a molecular retention onset (MWRO) of between 9.0 kD and 14.5 kD and a molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) of between 55 kD and 130 kD as determined by dextran sieving curves and can be prepared by industrially feasible processes excluding a treatment with salt before drying. The invention therefore also relates to a process for the production of the membranes and to their use in medical applications.

The present disclosure relates to a dialyzer comprising a bundle of semipermeable hollow fiber membranes which is suitable for blood purification, wherein the dialyzer has an increased ability to remove larger molecules while at the same time it is able to effectively remove small uremic toxins and efficiently retain albumin and larger proteins. The invention also relates to using said dialyzer in hemodialysis.

A process for preparing a hollow fiber includes the steps of providing a dope solution including polyamide imide (PAI), providing an aqueous bore solution including polyethylene imine (PEI), extruding the dope solution in an cross-sectional annular shape and ejecting the bore solution in the center of the annular shape, allowing the PAI and the PEI to react, thereby forming an internal surface layer including the cross-linked reaction product, and forming a polyamide Thin Film Composite (TFC) layer by interfacial reaction of aqueous di- or triamine compound and organic di- or triacylhalide compound on the internal surface layer including the cross-linked reaction product.