The invention relates to dense synthetic membranes made from polymerised phosphonium-based ionic liquids which were found to be particularly suitable for use in gas separation. The membranes are obtainable by copolymerization via UV-curing of a composition comprising a phosphonium-based ionic liquid monomer, a co-monomer, a cross-linker, a surfactant and a photo-initiator, the remainder of the polymerization mixture consisting of water.

The invention also relates to a process of manufacturing said membranes, resulting in solid, dense and mechanically stable membranes, and to the use of the membranes so produced in the separation of gas mixtures, particularly gas mixtures containing carbon dioxide.

A membrane system including an anti-fouling layer and a method of applying an anti-fouling layer to a membrane surface are provided. In an embodiment, the surface is a microfiltration (MF) or an ultrafiltration (UF) membrane surface. The anti-fouling layer can include a stimuli responsive layer and a dynamic protective layer applied over the stimuli responsive layer that can be a coating on a surface of the membrane. The stimuli responsive polymer layer can act as an adhesive prior to coating with the dynamic protective layer to aid in adhering the dynamic protective layer to the membrane surface. The dynamic protective layer can be formed by suitable nanoparticles that can prevent adhesion of foulants directly to the membrane surface. The stimuli responsive layer can be responsive to physio-chemical stimuli to cause a release of the stimuli responsive layer and the dynamic protective layer including foulants from the membrane.

A membrane system including an anti-fouling layer and a method of applying an anti-fouling layer to a membrane surface are provided. In an embodiment, the surface is a microfiltration (MF) or an ultrafiltration (UF) membrane surface. The anti-fouling layer can include a stimuli responsive layer and a dynamic protective layer applied over the stimuli responsive layer that can be a coating on a surface of the membrane. The stimuli responsive polymer layer can act as an adhesive prior to coating with the dynamic protective layer to aid in adhering the dynamic protective layer to the membrane surface. The dynamic protective layer can be formed by suitable nanoparticles that can prevent adhesion of foulants directly to the membrane surface. The stimuli responsive layer can be responsive to physio-chemical stimuli to cause a release of the stimuli responsive layer and the dynamic protective layer including foulants from the membrane.

By having a coating layer, this composite semipermeable membrane has fouling resistance easily maintainable before and after contact with acid, and enables stable operation over a long period of time. This composite semipermeable membrane comprises a porous support layer, a separation function layer arranged on the porous support layer, and a coating layer arranged on the separation function layer, wherein the separation function layer contains a crosslinked aromatic polyamide which is a polycondensate of polyfunctional aromatic amines and polyfunctional aromatic acid chloride, and the coating layer contains an aliphatic polymer having the structure (I) in the description.

This invention relates to certain microporous articles comprising certain PEDEK-PEEK copolymers, to a method for making said microporous articles, in particular to a method of making microporous articles from a blend comprising said PEDEK-PEEK copolymer and at least one additional polymer, comprising processing said blend into a film and treating the film with a solvent for obtaining the microporous article.

This invention relates to certain microporous articles comprising certain PEDEK-PEEK copolymers, to a method for making said microporous articles, in particular to a method of making microporous articles from a blend comprising said PEDEK-PEEK copolymer and at least one additional polymer, comprising processing said blend into a film and treating the film with a solvent for obtaining the microporous article.

Embodiments of the present disclosure feature an intrinsically microporous ladder-type Trger's base polymer including a repeat unit based on a combination of W-shaped CANAL-type and V-shaped Trger's base building blocks, methods of making the intrinsically microporous ladder-type Trger's base polymer, and methods of using the intrinsically microporous ladder-type Trger's base polymer to separate a chemical species from a fluid composition including a mixture of chemical species. Embodiments of the present disclosure further include ladder-type diamine monomers for reacting to form a Trger's base in situ, and methods of making the ladder-type diamine monomers using catalytic arene-norbornene annulation.

The present disclosure relates to a semipermeable membrane. The present disclosure aims to provide a semipermeable membrane having tolerance against a decrease over time in substance permeability. The present disclosure provides a semipermeable membrane containing a resin. The permeation rate of albumin in the semipermeable membrane is no lower than 30%. The albumin adsorption amount obtained when the semipermeable membrane measuring 1 cm on each side is immersed in a 0.1% albumin solution for 90 minutes is no greater than 10 g/cm.sup.2. The water permeation amount obtained when water is sucked through the semipermeable membrane at a negative pressure of 30.2 kPa is expressed by no smaller than 1,000 L/(m.sup.2 hour). The semipermeable membrane can isolate a cell from an external environment.

The present disclosure relates to a semipermeable membrane. The present disclosure aims to provide a semipermeable membrane having tolerance against a decrease over time in substance permeability. The present disclosure provides a semipermeable membrane containing a resin. The permeation rate of albumin in the semipermeable membrane is no lower than 30%. The albumin adsorption amount obtained when the semipermeable membrane measuring 1 cm on each side is immersed in a 0.1% albumin solution for 90 minutes is no greater than 10 g/cm.sup.2. The water permeation amount obtained when water is sucked through the semipermeable membrane at a negative pressure of 30.2 kPa is expressed by no smaller than 1,000 L/(m.sup.2 hour). The semipermeable membrane can isolate a cell from an external environment.

Separation of linear and branched alkane isomers via selective permeation through a composite membrane is disclosed. The separation layer in the composite membrane is fabricated from a blend of at least two different fluoropolymer compositions, A and B, in which composition A has a normal-alkane isomer permeability that is greater than composition B. Composition B has a normal alkane to branched-alkane isomer selectivity that is equal or greater than composition A. The separation layer in the composite membrane has a normal-alkane permeability that is greater than composition B and a normal-alkane to branched alkane isomer selectivity that is greater than composition A.