In one embodiment, a separation membrane includes: a porous support structure; and at least one alkali metal hydroxide disposed within pores of the porous support structure. In another embodiment, a method for separating acidic gases from a gas mixture includes exposing the gas mixture to a separation membrane at an elevated temperature, where the separation membrane includes a porous support and at least one molten alkali metal hydroxide disposed within pores of the porous support.

A porous body with enhanced fluid transport properties and crush strength is provided. The porous body includes the porous body includes at least 80 percent alpha alumina and having a pore volume from 0.3 mL/g to 1.2 mL/g, a surface area from 0.3 m.sup.2/g to 3.0 m.sup.2/g, and a pore architecture that provides at least one of a tortuosity of 7 or less, a constriction of 4 or less and a permeability of 30 mdarcys or greater, wherein the porous body is a cylinder comprising at least two spaced apart holes that extend through an entire length of the cylinder. The porous body has a flat plate crush strength improved by more than 10% over a porous body cylinder having a same outer diameter and length, but having only a single hole.

A dual function composite oxygen transport membrane having a layered structure of mixed conducting oxygen transport materials on a first side of a porous substrate and a reforming catalyst layer on an opposing second side of the porous substrate. The layered structure of the mixed conducting oxygen transport materials contains an intermediate porous layer of mixed conducting oxygen transport materials formed on the porous substrate with a dense impervious layer of mixed conducting oxygen transport materials over the intermediate porous layer, and an optional surface exchange layer of mixed conducting oxygen transport materials over the dense impervious layer. The layered structure and the reforming catalyst layer are formed in separate steps.

The invention relates to a multilayer metallic or ceramic membrane device, comprising a macroporous carrier layer including pores having a pore diameter of more than 50 nm, and at least one mesoporous intermediate layer disposed thereon, including pores having a pore diameter of 2 nm to 50 nm. The membrane device according to the invention furthermore comprises at least one microporous cover layer disposed on the mesoporous intermediate layer, including pores having an average pore diameter of 0.3 nm to 1.5 nm, comprising graphite oxide or few-layer graphene oxide or graphite or few-layer graphene. In an advantageous embodiment, the cover layer comprises between 5 and 1000 layers of graphene oxide. In an advantageous embodiment, the cover layer can comprise between 5 and 1000 layers of partially reduced graphene oxide or graphene as a result of the at least partial reduction of the graphene oxide. The multilayer, chemically and mechanically stable and temperature-resistant membrane device according to the invention, comprising the functional cover layer thereof including microporous graphene oxide or graphene, is advantageously suitable for use in water separation or purification, or for gas separation.

An object of the present invention is to provide a porous support-zeolite membrane composite ensuring that at the time of separation or concentration with a zeolite membrane, both sufficient throughput and high separation performance are achieved in practice and the present invention relates to a porous support-zeolite membrane composite having a porous support and a zeolite membrane formed on the porous support, wherein part of the zeolite membrane penetrates into the inside of the porous support and the distance from the surface of the porous support to the inside into which the zeolite film penetrates is 5.0 m or less on average.

A universal, scalable, solvent-free, one-step method for thermal annealing a stainless steel membrane to create a superhydrophilic surface. The superhydrophilic membrane itself, and methods for using it to separate oil and water in an oil and water mixture or for photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue and other organic contaminants.

A lithium extraction composite comprising: (i) a porous support and (ii) particles of a lithium-selective sorbent material coated on at least one surface of the support, wherein the support has a planar membrane, fiber (or rod), or tubular shape. A method for extracting and recovering a lithium salt from an aqueous solution by use of the above-described composition is also described, the method comprising (a) flowing the aqueous source solution through a first zone or over a first surface of the lithium extraction composite to result in selective lithium intercalation in the lithium-selective sorbent material in the first zone or first surface; and (b) simultaneously recovering lithium salt extracted in step (a) from said lithium-selective sorbent material by flowing an aqueous stripping solution through a second zone or over a second surface of the lithium extraction composite in which lithium ions from the first zone or first surface diffuse.

The present invention provides a titanosilicate separation membrane which can also be used for separating a mixed gas containing a molecule having a relatively small size, has high durability in a high temperature environment, and has a high permeation rate and a high selectivity for a mixed gas containing water vapor. A titanosilicate separation membrane has a CHA-type titanosilicate crystal structure formed on a porous support, wherein aluminum is not substantially contained in the backbone of the titanosilicate crystal structure, and the titanosilicate crystal structure is constituted by silicon, oxygen, and titanium.

The present invention relates to a process for producing a porous support-zeolite membrane composite, which comprises forming a CHA type zeolite membrane on a porous support by a hydrothermal synthesis in the presence of seed crystals, wherein an FAU type zeolite is used as the seed crystals.

A monolithic separation membrane structure comprises a porous monolithic substrate and a separation membrane. The monolithic substrate includes a first end surface, a second end surface and a plurality of through-holes respectively passing from the first end surface to the second end surface. The separation membrane is formed on an inner surface of the respective plurality of through-holes. The surface roughness Ra of the separation membrane is no more than 1 micrometer and the thickness of the separation membrane is no more than 5 micrometers.