The present invention provides a cation-exchange composite membrane comprising a copolymer containing a styrene repeating unit introduced with a sulfonation group, a tert-butylstyrene repeating unit and a crosslink repeating unit, an olefin additive, a plasticizer and a polyvinyl halide polymer.

The cation-exchange composite membrane comprising a copolymer containing a styrene repeating unit introduced with a sulfonation group, a tert-butylstyrene repeating unit and a crosslink repeating unit, an olefin additive, a plasticizer and a polyvinyl halide polymer of the present invention not only displays low electrical resistance, excellent ion exchange capability, excellent ionic conductivity, excellent mechanical properties, excellent chemical properties, and processability, but also is easy to regulate its ion exchange ability and ionic conductivity. Also, the composite membrane of the invention is easier to produce and cheaper to manufacture than the conventional cation-exchange composite membrane.

An object of the present invention is to provide a composite semipermeable membrane which has a high permeation rate and high salt removal performance and is excellent in terms of performance stability during long-term operation. The composite semipermeable membrane of the present invention includes: a supporting membrane including a substrate and a porous supporting layer; and a separation functional layer disposed on the porous supporting layer, the separation functional layer includes a crosslinked polyamide and a hydrophilic polymer having an acidic group, and in the separation functional layer, a ratio of (molar equivalent of amino groups)/(molar equivalent of amide groups) is 0.18 or less.

A functional polymer membrane including a porous support and a crosslinked polymer electrolyte, in which the film thickness of the functional polymer membrane is smaller than 100 ?m, the crosslinked polymer electrolyte is a crosslinked polymer formed by subjecting a composition including a monomer having a (meth)acrylamide skeleton to a polymerization curing reaction, and the proportion of elemental oxygen in the elemental composition excluding elemental hydrogen and helium at the surface of the porous support is from 14.0 atom % to 25.0 atom %; and a method for producing the same are provided.

The invention relates to a power distribution system (1), especially a Power-over-Ethernet system, comprising at least one dominant sensor, which may be located within a powered device (4) like a lighting device, and at least one non-dominant sensor, which may be located within another powered device (4), wherein the power distribution system is adapted such that in a system low power mode the at least one dominant sensor (6) consumes power provided by a power providing unit (3) and the at least one non-dominant sensor (6) does not consume the provided power and that the power distribution system (1) switches from the system low powermode to a system high power mode, if the at least one dominant sensor (6) has sensed an event. Since in the system low power mode the at least one non-dominant sensor does not consume power, the power consumption can be reduced.

A microporous structure includes an array of nano wires and a coating about the nano wires of the array. The coating defines pores between the nano wires.

The present invention relates to a method of preparing a perm-selective porous membrane and a method of separating gases using the prepared porous membrane. According to the present invention, a membrane is synthesized using a hierarchically structured alumina porous support by a counter diffusion method. During this synthesis, the diffusion rate of metal ions loaded on the porous support is controlled by controlling the pore size of the porous support, and the position at which the membrane is synthesized is controlled by synthesizing the membrane inside the support. This can increase the physical stability of the membrane and make the membrane thicker so as to ensure higher H.sub.2/CO.sub.2 separation factors.

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.

Anion exchange membranes and materials including silica-based ceramics, and associated methods, are provided. In some aspects, anion exchange membranes that include a silica-based ceramic that forms a coating on and/or within a porous support membrane are described. The anion 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 anion exchange membrane or material includes quaternary ammonium groups covalently bound to the silica-based ceramic.

Systems and methods for treating a membrane are described. The method includes causing a nanomaterial to contact at least a portion of a wall of at least on channel extending through a membrane, and causing the nanomaterial to adhere to the portion of the wall of the at least one channel. A fluid filtration system is also described. The filtration system includes a housing and a filter membrane. The housing may have a reservoir and a filter compartment. The filter membrane may have a channel extending therethrough. The channel may have a plurality of micropores along a wall thereof. The filter compartment may be configured to receive the filter membrane therein, the filter membrane configured to guide fluid thereacross to remove substances from the fluid or to modify substances in the fluid.

A composite polymer electrolyte membrane for a fuel cell may be manufactured by the following method: partially or totally filling the inside of a pore of a porous support with a hydrogen ion conductive polymer electrolyte solution by performing a solution impregnation process; and drying the hydrogen ion conductive polymer electrolyte solution while completely filling the inside of the pore with the hydrogen ion conductive polymer electrolyte solution by performing a spin dry process on the porous support of which the inside of the pore is partially or totally filled with the hydrogen ion conductive polymer electrolyte solution.