The present invention relates to systems, methods and uses for recycling at least a part of water lost during various renal replacement therapy processes, e.g. in the preparation of a fresh dialysate solution or fresh reconstitution fluid for kidney disease dialysis and hemofiltration by utilizing water from the spent fluids. The system of the invention is useful in hemodialysis and in peritoneal dialysis as well as in hemofiltration for reuse of water from filtrates and spent fluids. In addition, the system of the invention is useful in the development of a renal assist device or artificial kidney.

Composite membranes include a polymer material that is selectively permeable to heavy (C.sub.3+) hydrocarbons over methane. The polymer material may be a modified poly(dimethylsilane) having a backbone including dimethylsiloxyl monomers, substituted methylsiloxyl monomers, and internal-network monomers. The substituted methylsiloxyl monomers may include phenylmethylsiloxyl monomers or C.sub.5-C.sub.10 alkylmethylsiloxyl monomers such as octylmethylsiloxyl monomers. The polymer material may include silicon-alkyl linkages such as Si(CH.sub.2).sub.nSi, where n2 that may create a structure that imparts desirable permeability and selectivity characteristics to the composite membrane. The polymer material may be cast onto a porous support material. The composite membranes may be incorporated into systems or methods for removing heavy hydrocarbons from natural gas.

Systems and methods are provided for performing on-board separation of a fuel into a higher octane fuel fraction and a lower octane fuel fraction using a membrane under osmosis conditions. By performing the separation under osmosis conditions, the feed for separation can be exposed to the membrane without requiring prior heating. This can avoid the need for having a separate heat exchanger system for heating the feed to the membrane to a desired temperature range. Additionally or alternately, the permeate from the membrane separation can be at a pressure of roughly 100 kPa-a or higher. This can avoid the need for having an eductor to provide a pressure below 100 kPa-a for the permeate side of the membrane. The fuel fractions produced during the membrane separation can then be used as fuel in a dual-fuel spark ignition engine.

A gas separation membrane, the gas separation membrane module, and the gas separation device each have a support, a resin layer, a separation layer, and a protective layer in this order, in which the resin layer includes a compound having a siloxane bond, the protective layer is in direct contact with the separation layer, a composition of the protective layer is different from a composition of the resin layer, the composition of the protective layer is different from a composition of the separation layer, and the separation layer has a maximum value of a silicon atom content of 2 atomic % or less in a composition of a half area on a side of the protective layer in a thickness direction.

The present invention relates to surface modifying agents for polymeric and/or textile materials, methods of making and/or using a surface modifying agent to modify and functionalize polymeric and/or textile materials, and/or methods of using surface modified or functionalized polymeric and textile materials, and/or products using or incorporating surface modified or functionalized polymeric and textile materials. For example, the surface modifying agent in precursor form can be styrene sulfonyl azide monomer, polymer or copolymer capable of undergoing a chemical reaction in the presence of heat or light to form one or more styrene sulfonated nitrene monomers, polymers or copolymers, which are capable of chemically reacting with the surface of a polymeric or textile material to endow a specific or desired chemical surface functionality to the surface of a polymeric or textile material. Furthermore, the present invention is possibly preferably directed to a surface modifying agent which comprises a styrene sulfonated nitrene monomer, polymer or polymer containing one or more nitrene functional groups, which are capable of chemically reacting via an insertion reaction into one or more carbon-hydrogen bonds on the surface of a polymeric or textile material in order to chemically attach a specific or desired chemical functionality to the surface of a polymeric or textile material.

Described are porous membrane products that contain two or more membrane layers bonded together at a portion of the area of the membranes, methods and system for preparing the porous membrane products, and methods of using the porous membrane products.

A photothermal distillation membrane including a polydopamine (PDA) coated, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane is disclosed, as well as a process for synthesizing same. A photothermal aerogel membrane including a polydopamine (PDA)-containing bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) is also disclosed, as well as a process for synthesizing same.

A composite separation membrane is disclosed prepared by forming a separation layer on a surface of a porous support membrane, characterized in that the porous support membrane contains 50% by mass or more of polyphenylene ether; that the separation layer is constituted from a first separation layer and a second separation layer; that the first separation layer is formed with a thickness of from 50 nm to 1 ?m on the surface of the porous support membrane and is a sulfonated polyarylene ether copolymer which comprises a repeated structure of a specific hydrophobic segment and a specific hydrophilic segment; and that the second separation layer is formed with a thickness of from 1 nm to less than 50 nm on a surface of the first separation layer and is an alternately-layered product constituted from one or more kinds of ionomers.

Durable asymmetric composite membranes consisting of a film of cross-linked sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) adhered to a sheet of sulfonated microporous poly(ethylene) are disclosed. The membranes have application in the recovery of water from feed streams were the ability to clean in situ is desirable, for example in dairy processing. Methods of preparing cross-linked sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) suitable for use as a rejection layer in such membranes are also disclosed.

The present disclosure provides a porous material having a surface that is concurrently both superhydrophilic (having a first apparent advancing dynamic contact angle of less than or equal to about 5? for water) and oleophobic (having a second apparent advancing dynamic contact angle of greater than or equal to about 90?) or superoleophobic (a second apparent advancing dynamic contact angle of greater than or equal to about 150? for oil). Such materials can be used in a separator device to separate a liquid-liquid mixture of immiscible components (e.g., oil and water) or miscible components (e.g., alcohols). Separation apparatus incorporating such materials and methods of making and using these materials are also provided.