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 a microporous hollow fiber filter membrane having a large inner diameter and a thin wall. The fiber can be used for sterile filtration of liquids or removal of particles from liquids. The disclosure further relates to a method for producing the membrane and a filter device comprising the membrane.

The invention relates to an apparatus and a method for the manufacture of at least one hollow fiber membrane, wherein a spinning mass is extruded via a spinning unit to form a spinning thread and precipitated in a precipitation bath to form a hollow fiber membrane and the hollow fiber membrane is optionally rinsed in a rinsing bath, wherein furthermore the hollow fiber membrane is passed through at least one drying unit, wherein the drying unit comprises a pressure section which is constructed in such a way that a positive pressure compared with atmospheric pressure can be set in the pressure section, and at least part of the precipitating agent or rinsing agent contained in the at least one hollow fiber membrane (104) is separated from the at least one hollow fiber membrane.

An object of the present invention is to suppress a defect in a carbon membrane for fluid separation use with a dense carbon layer formed on a porous carbon support. The present invention is a carbon membrane for fluid separation use, including a dense carbon layer formed on a porous carbon support, wherein X<Y when the ratio of the content of silicon atoms to the total content of carbon atoms and silicon atoms at the center position in the membrane thickness direction of the porous carbon support is X (atomic %), and the ratio of the content of silicon atoms to the total content of carbon atoms and silicon atoms at the position of 3 μm from the interface between the porous carbon support and the dense carbon layer to the porous carbon support side is Y (atomic %).

A separation membrane module includes a case and a separation membrane built in the case, wherein the separation membrane module satisfies the following requirements (1) to (3): (1) the separation membrane contains a hydrophobic polymer, a hydrophilic polymer, and a biocompatible copolymer, the hydrophilic polymer containing a hydrophilic polymer having mobility, (2) the separation membrane contains the hydrophilic polymer having mobility in a range of 1.0 to 1.7% by mass, and (3) a water content per self-weight of the separation membrane is in a range of 0 to 10% by mass. The separation membrane module is provided in which fouling of a membrane is suppressed and the amount of eluted substance is small.

The present invention relates to a continuous process for preparing permselective hollow fiber membranes being suitable e.g. for hemodialysis, hemodiafiltration and hemofiltration of blood which comprises a two-stage drying and tempering treatment of the hollow fiber membranes. According to a further aspect, the invention relates to a continuous process for drying permselective hollow fiber membranes on-line. The invention also relates to devices for on-line drying of permselective hollow fiber membranes.

The present invention provides an intrinsically anti-microbial hollow fiber membrane for filtration of liquids. The membrane comprises a plurality of porous hollow bilayer membrane fibers wherein the liquid enters from outside of the fiber, passing through the porous membrane into the lumen of the fiber and coming out from the hollow ending of the fiber, wherein this configuration provides a liquid outside-in arrangement and retains the filtrate outside. It means that membrane of the invention has built in characteristics to act against microbes in order to provide the use with a safe liquid free from microbes. The outer side or outer wall of the hollow fibers may be configured to become hydrophobic whereas inner side or inner wall of the hollow fiber membrane may be configured to become hydrophilic to enhance the water permeability to a great extent. The hollow fiber membrane may be configured to give it an intrinsic anti-microbial capability. A device containing above said membrane has also been disclosed.

A method for producing a porous hollow fiber membrane for humidification, the method comprising dry-wet spinning a spinning dope comprising a water-soluble organic solvent solution composed of polyphenylsulfone resin and hydrophilic polyvinylpyrrolidone using water as a core liquid; then performing a crosslinking treatment at 120 to 220° C. for 1 to 20 hours; and then dipping the resultant in an acidic solution with a concentration of 5 to 500 ppm. The obtained porous hollow fiber membrane has improved hydrophilicity without impairing the wettability of the porous hollow fiber membrane. Since, humidification performance of the porous hollow fiber membrane alone can be improved, it is effective as a humidifying membrane for fuel cells.

The present invention relates to the use of additives in processes to form polymeric fibers. These fibers can be formed into membranes with improved middle and/or higher molecular weight solute removal.

The present disclosure relates to synthetic membranes for the removal, isolation or purification of substances from a liquid, comprising at least one hydrophobic and at least one hydrophilic polymer, wherein 5-40 wt.-% of particles having an average particles size of between 0.1 and 15 μm are entrapped and wherein the membrane has a wall thickness of below 150 μm. Further disclosed are methods for preparing such membranes in various geometries and their use for the adsorption, isolation and/or purification of substances from a liquid.