The present disclosure provides methods for forming asymmetric membranes. More specifically, methods are provided for applying a polymerizable species to a porous substrate for forming a coated porous substrate. The coated porous substrate is exposed to an ultraviolet radiation source having a peak emission wavelength less than 340 nm to polymerize the polymerizable species forming a polymerized material retained within the porous substrate so that the concentration of polymerized material is greater at the first major surface than at the second major surface.

An ion-conducting membrane used in the chlor-alkali industry and a preparation method thereof are disclosed. The ion-conducting membrane includes a perfluorinated ion exchange resin base film, a porous reinforcing material and a perfluorinated ion exchange resin micro-particle surface layer. The perfluorinated ion exchange resin micro-particles are a mixture of one or two of perfluorocarboxylic acid resin micro-particles and perfluorosulfonic acid carboxylic acid copolymer resin micro-particles with perfluorosulfonic acid resin micro-particles. A mass percentage of perfluorosulfonic acid resin micro-particles in the mixture is 50-95%. The surface layer of the present invention has good compatibility and adhesion, and maintains a good degassing effect during the entire lifespan of the ion-conducting membrane. The present invention is used in the chlor-alkali industry, stably and effectively processes alkali metal chloride solutions having a wide range concentration and suitable for operating in a zero polar distance electrolytic cell under novel high current density conditions.

Guanidinyl ligand-functionalized polymers, methods of making the same, and substrates bearing a grafted coating of the ligand-functional polymers are described. The grafted polymer has the requisite affinity for binding neutral or negatively charged biomaterials, such as cells, cell debris, bacteria, spores, viruses, nucleic acids, endotoxins and proteins, at pH's near or below the pI's of the biomaterials.

A membrane obtainable from curing a composition comprising: (i) a curable compound comprising at least two (meth)acrylic groups and a sulphonic acid group and having a molecular weight which satisfies the equation: MW<(300+300n) wherein: MW is the molecular weight of the said curable compound; and n has a value of 1, 2, 3 or 4 and is the number of sulphonic acid groups present in the said curable compound; and optionally (ii) a curable compound having one ethylenically unsaturated group; wherein the molar fraction of curable compounds comprising at least two (meth)acrylic groups, relative to the total number of moles of curable compounds present in the composition, is at least 0.25.

Membranes of the present disclosure possess very thin barrier layers, with high selectivity, high throughput, low fouling, and are long lasting. The membranes include graphene and/or graphene oxide barrier layers on a nanofibrous supporting scaffold. Methods for forming these membranes, as well as uses thereof, are also provided. In embodiments, an article of the present disclosure includes a nanofibrous scaffold; at least a first layer of nanoporous graphene, nanoporous graphene oxide, or combinations thereof on at least a portion of a surface of the nanofibrous scaffold; an additive such as crosslinking agents and/or particles on an outer surface of the at least first layer of nanoporous graphene, nanoporous graphene oxide, or combinations thereof.

Provided are a curable composition including an amide compound that is represented by Formula (1) below and of which a density of sulfonic acid is 3.9 milliequivalent/g or greater, a functional polymer hardened product, a stack or a device including a functional polymer membrane, an amide compound, and a manufacturing method thereof.

##STR00001##

m represents an integer of 1 or greater, n represents an integer of 2 or greater, L.sup.1 represents a m+1-valent linking group, and L.sup.2 represents an n-valent linking group. R.sup.1 represents a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group, and R.sup.2 represents SO.sub.3.sup.M.sup.+ or SO.sub.3R.sup.3 (R.sup.3 represents an alkyl group or an aryl group). Here, in a case where there are plural R.sup.2's, not all of the R.sup.2's are SO.sub.3R.sup.3. M.sup.+ represents a hydrogen ion, an inorganic ion, or an organic ion.

Provided are a curable composition including an amide compound that is represented by Formula (1) below and of which a density of sulfonic acid is 3.9 milliequivalent/g or greater, a functional polymer hardened product, a stack or a device including a functional polymer membrane, an amide compound, and a manufacturing method thereof.

##STR00001##

m represents an integer of 1 or greater, n represents an integer of 2 or greater, L.sup.1 represents a m+1-valent linking group, and L.sup.2 represents an n-valent linking group. R.sup.1 represents a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group, and R.sup.2 represents SO.sub.3.sup.M.sup.+ or SO.sub.3R.sup.3 (R.sup.3 represents an alkyl group or an aryl group). Here, in a case where there are plural R.sup.2's, not all of the R.sup.2's are SO.sub.3R.sup.3. M.sup.+ represents a hydrogen ion, an inorganic ion, or an organic ion.

Provided are a functional polymer membrane including: a surface layer; and an anion exchange membrane or a cation exchange membrane, in which the surface layer contains a polymer which includes a cross-linked structure having, in a cross-linking unit, an ionic group with a charge opposite to a charge of an ionic group included in at least one of the anion exchange membrane or the cation exchange membrane; a production method thereof, and a stack or a device provided with a polymer functional membrane.

Disclosed is a method of preparing a filtration membrane. The method includes providing a copolymer solution by dissolving a statistical copolymer in a mixture of a co-solvent and a first organic solvent, coating the copolymer solution onto a porous support layer to form a polymeric layer thereon, coagulating the polymeric layer on top of the support layer to form a thin film composite membrane, and immersing the thin film composite membrane into a water bath to obtain a filtration membrane. Also disclosed are a filtration membrane prepared by the method, and a process of filtering a liquid using the filtration membrane thus prepared.

A polymeric membrane for separating oil from water has a pore size of 0.005 m to 5 m, a thickness of 50 m to 1,000 m, a water contact angle of 0 to 60, an oil contact angle of 40 to 100. The membrane contains a hydrophobic matrix polymer and a functional polymer that contains a hydrophobic backbone and side chains. The side chains each have an oleophobic terminal segment and a hydrophilic internal segment. The weight ratio of the matrix polymer to the functional polymer is 99:1 to 1:9. Also disclosed is a method of making the above described membrane.