A crosslinked copolymer is provided, which includes a copolymer crosslinked by a crosslinking agent. The copolymer is copolymerized of (a) styrene-based monomer, (b) monomer having conjugated double bonds or acrylate ester monomer, and (c) ammonium-containing heterocyclic monomer. The crosslinking agent is (d) ##STR00001##
or the product of the reaction between ##STR00002##
and (e) ##STR00003##
or a combination thereof. Z is ##STR00004##
wherein each R.sup.1 is independently H or C.sub.1-4 alkyl group, each R.sup.2 is independently H or C.sub.1-4 alkyl group, R.sup.3 is single bond, —O—, —S—, —CH.sub.2—, or —NH—. n is a positive integer. x is 1 to 12, y is 1 to 5, and z is 1 to 5.

The present invention provides a room-temperature selective swelling method of pore-forming used for preparing separation membranes, comprising: treating a dense membrane of an amphiphilic block copolymer by a composite swelling agent at 15-30° C. for 1 min-24 h, removing the residual solvent, then leaving the membrane at room temperature to dry, so as to obtain an amphiphilic block copolymer separation membrane with a bi-continuous porous structure, wherein the composite swelling agent is composed of 60-96% of a first swelling agent and 4-40% of a second swelling agent, the first swelling agent is an alcohol solvent, the second swelling agent is selected from any one or a mixture of two or more of toluene, styrene, tetrahydrofuran, 1,4-dioxane and so on. In the method of the invention, selective swelling can be achieved at room temperature, abating the energy consumption in membrane-forming process. The method has universality and can be widely used in the pore-forming process of various amphiphilic block copolymers. The swelling level and morphology can be controlled by adjusting the composition of the solvent in the swelling agent and the second swelling agent content in the swelling agent.

Provided are a CO.sub.2 gas separation membrane, a method for manufacturing the same, and a carbon dioxide gas separation membrane module including the same, the CO.sub.2 gas separation membrane including: a first layer (A) containing at least one alkali metal compound selected from the group consisting of an alkali metal carbonate, an alkali metal bicarbonate and an alkali metal hydroxide, and a first resin in which a polymer having a carboxyl group has been crosslinked; a second layer (B) containing at least one of the alkali metal compounds, and a second resin having a structural unit derived from a vinyl ester of a fatty acid; and a hydrophobic porous membrane (C).

Provided are a CO.sub.2 gas separation membrane, a method for manufacturing the same, and a carbon dioxide gas separation membrane module including the same, the CO.sub.2 gas separation membrane including: a first layer (A) containing at least one alkali metal compound selected from the group consisting of an alkali metal carbonate, an alkali metal bicarbonate and an alkali metal hydroxide, and a first resin in which a polymer having a carboxyl group has been crosslinked; a second layer (B) containing at least one of the alkali metal compounds, and a second resin having a structural unit derived from a vinyl ester of a fatty acid; and a hydrophobic porous membrane (C).

The composite anion exchange membrane includes: a surface layer on a single surface or both surfaces of an anion exchange membrane substrate, in which the above-described surface layer contains a copolymer of a monomer A which is a water-soluble polyfunctional monomer and a monomer B which is a cationic monomer, an anion exchange capacity of the above-described surface layer is 0.05 meq/cm.sup.3 to 0.50 meq/cm.sup.3, and an anion exchange capacity of the above-described anion exchange membrane substrate is 1.0 meq/cm.sup.3 to 5.0 meq/cm.sup.3.

The composite anion exchange membrane includes: a surface layer on a single surface or both surfaces of an anion exchange membrane substrate, in which the above-described surface layer contains a copolymer of a monomer A which is a water-soluble polyfunctional monomer and a monomer B which is a cationic monomer, an anion exchange capacity of the above-described surface layer is 0.05 meq/cm.sup.3 to 0.50 meq/cm.sup.3, and an anion exchange capacity of the above-described anion exchange membrane substrate is 1.0 meq/cm.sup.3 to 5.0 meq/cm.sup.3.

The present invention relates to synthetic membranes and use of these synthetic membranes for isolation of volatile organic compounds and purification of water. The synthetic membrane includes a hydrophobic polymer layer located on a polymeric membrane support layer. The invention includes a method of isolating volatile organic compounds with the synthetic membrane by contacting a volatile organic mixture with the hydrophobic polymer layer of the synthetic membrane and removing volatile organic compounds from the polymeric membrane support layer of the synthetic membrane by a process of pervaporation. The invention also includes a method of purifying water with the synthetic membrane by contacting an ionic solution with the hydrophobic polymer layer of the synthetic membrane and removing water from the polymeric membrane support layer of the synthetic membrane by a process of reverse osmosis. The invention also relates to methods of isolating non-polar gases by gas fractionation.

The present invention relates to synthetic membranes and use of these synthetic membranes for isolation of volatile organic compounds and purification of water. The synthetic membrane includes a hydrophobic polymer layer located on a polymeric membrane support layer. The invention includes a method of isolating volatile organic compounds with the synthetic membrane by contacting a volatile organic mixture with the hydrophobic polymer layer of the synthetic membrane and removing volatile organic compounds from the polymeric membrane support layer of the synthetic membrane by a process of pervaporation. The invention also includes a method of purifying water with the synthetic membrane by contacting an ionic solution with the hydrophobic polymer layer of the synthetic membrane and removing water from the polymeric membrane support layer of the synthetic membrane by a process of reverse osmosis. The invention also relates to methods of isolating non-polar gases by gas fractionation.

An improved method for concentrating dispersions of graphene oxide, coating a substrate with a layer of a graphene oxide solution, and producing a supported graphene membrane stabilised by controlled deoxygenation; and graphene-based membranes that demonstrate ultra-fast water transport, precise molecular sieving of gas and solvated molecules, and which show great promise as novel separation platforms.

A membrane for selective transport of substances includes: a porous substrate with a comb polymer. The comb polymer contains a polymer main chain and several lateral chains covalently bonded to the polymer main chain. At least one of the several lateral chains has at least one Lewis-acid and/or Lewis-base functionality.