The present invention relates to the use of additives in processes to form polymeric fibers. These fibers can be formed into membranes with improved middle and/or higher molecular weight solute removal.

The present invention relates to the use of additives in processes to form polymeric fibers. These fibers can be formed into membranes with improved middle and/or higher molecular weight solute removal.

A fluorinated copolymer having pendant amide functionality is disclosed in an aspect herein. A membrane from the fluorinated copolymer having at least some of the pendant amide functionality hydrolyzed to pendant amine functionality is highly permeable to carbon dioxide and can be useful in the gas-separation layer of a thin-film composite membrane for the separation of carbon dioxide from nitrogen or methane.

The present disclosure relates to semipermeable membranes which are suitable for blood purification, e.g. by hemodialysis, which have an increased ability to remove larger molecules while at the same time effectively retaining albumin. The membranes are characterized by a molecular retention onset (MWRO) of between 9.0 kD and 14.5 kD and a molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) of between 55 kD and 130 kD as determined by dextran sieving curves and can be prepared by industrially feasible processes excluding a treatment with salt before drying. The invention therefore also relates to a process for the production of the membranes and to their use in medical applications.

The present disclosure relates to a dialyzer comprising a bundle of semipermeable hollow fiber membranes which is suitable for blood purification, wherein the dialyzer has an increased ability to remove larger molecules while at the same time it is able to effectively remove small uremic toxins and efficiently retain albumin and larger proteins. The invention also relates to using said dialyzer in hemodialysis.

A multi-layer membrane which has a mixed polyamide selective layer supported on a porous polysulfone layer. The mixed polyamide selective layer includes reacted units of a polyfunctional acyl halide (e.g. trimesoyl chloride) and a diamine mixture containing 4,7,10-trioxa-1,13-tridecanediamine and a cyclic diamine (e.g. piperazine). Methods of fabricating the multi-layer membrane via techniques such as phase inversion and interfacial polymerization are described. The inventive membrane is evaluated on its water flux and salt rejection (e.g. sulfate and chloride salts) capabilities. A water desalination system containing the multi-layer membrane(s) is also provided.

A multi-layer membrane which has a mixed polyamide selective layer supported on a porous polysulfone layer. The mixed polyamide selective layer includes reacted units of a polyfunctional acyl halide (e.g. trimesoyl chloride) and a diamine mixture containing 4,7,10-trioxa-1,13-tridecanediamine and a cyclic diamine (e.g. piperazine). Methods of fabricating the multi-layer membrane via techniques such as phase inversion and interfacial polymerization are described. The inventive membrane is evaluated on its water flux and salt rejection (e.g. sulfate and chloride salts) capabilities. A water desalination system containing the multi-layer membrane(s) is also provided.

A polymer and a method for preparing the same are provided. The polymer includes a first repeat unit and a second repeat unit. In particular, the first repeat unit is ##STR00001##
and, the second repeat unit is ##STR00002##
wherein R.sup.+ is ##STR00003##
A.sup.? is F.sup.?, Cl.sup.?, Br.sup.?, I.sup.?, OH.sup.?, HCO.sub.3.sup.?, HSO.sub.4.sup.?, SbF.sub.6.sup.?, BF.sub.4.sup.?, H.sub.2PO.sub.4.sup.?, H.sub.2PO.sub.3.sup.?, or H.sub.2PO.sub.2.sup.?; X is ##STR00004##
i and j are independently 0, or an integer from 1 to 4; Y is O, S, CH.sub.2, or NH; R.sup.1 is independently C.sub.1-8 alkyl group; and, R.sup.2 and R.sup.3 are hydrogen, or independently C.sub.1-8 alkyl group.

Disclosed is a statistical copolymer that includes both zwitterionic repeat units and hydrophobic repeat units and a filtration membrane that contains a selective layer formed of the statistical copolymer. Also disclosed are methods of preparing the above-described filtration membrane.

A gas sensor comprises a gas separation membrane comprising substituted polyacetylene where a substituent group is combined to a double-bonded carbon atom in the backbone chain of the substituted polyacetylene and a sensing element configured to detect gas permeated through the gas separation membrane.