Provided herein are methods of fabricating membranes using polymers with functionalized groups such as sulfone (e.g., PSf and PES), ether (e.g., PES), acrylonitrile (e.g., PAN), fluoride (e.g., pvdf and other fluoropolymers), and imide (e.g., extem) and ionic liquids. Also provided are membranes made by the provided methods.

Described herein are novel emulsion liquid membranes useful for extracting pollutants from industrial wastewater and water. The emulsion liquid membranes include, in various phases, at least one of nanoparticles, an ionic liquid, and combinations of nanoparticles and ionic liquids. Use of the present emulsion liquid membranes enhances the separation and the stability of the ELM method for pollutant extraction and recovery from wastewater and water.

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.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method which can produce an ionic liquid-containing network structure with high productivity. A method for producing an ionic liquid-containing structure, which includes an inorganic particle network structure forming step of forming a network structure by inorganic particles in the presence of an ionic liquid, and a polymer network structure forming step of forming a network structure by polymerization of a monomer component containing at least a polar group-containing monomer in the presence of the ionic liquid is provided.

A method of producing a DN gel membrane includes a step (1) including producing a 1st gel membrane by (i) casting, on a substrate, a solution containing an ionic liquid A and an ionic liquid B, the ionic liquid A being made up of 1st monomers each of which has a polymerizable functional group and (ii) polymerizing the 1st monomers; and a step (2) including producing the DN gel membrane by (i) immersing the 1st gel membrane in a solution containing 2nd monomers which are different from the 1st monomers and (ii) polymerizing the 2nd monomers. This method allows for continuous-type production which is suitable for industrial mass production of DN gel membranes or acid gas separation membranes.

The present disclosure discloses a functional fluid gating control system, which comprises a porous membrane and a functional fluid. The functional fluid at least partially infiltrates the porous membrane and cooperates to form a fluid gating pathway. The functional fluid and/or the porous membrane responds to at least one stimulus and undergoes a physical change or a chemical change to change the threshold pressure of the transport substance. A transport fluid being immiscible with the functional fluid is controlled to pass through the fluid gating system, and thus controllable transport and multiphase separation of materials are achieved. The stimulus of the present disclosure comprises a wide range of sources, and the stimulus responsiveness of the functional fluid and the porous membrane can be randomly and freely combined to adapt to multiple stimuli from complex external conditions and achieve intelligent controllability.

A composite membrane for selectively separating (e.g., pervaporating) a first fluid (e.g., first liquid such as a high octane compound) from a mixture comprising the first fluid (e.g., first liquid such as a high octane compound) and a second fluid (e.g., second liquid such as gasoline). The composite membrane includes a porous substrate comprising opposite first and second major surfaces, and a plurality of pores. A pore-filling polymer is disposed in at least some of the pores so as to form a layer having a thickness within the porous substrate. The composite membrane further includes at least one of: (a) an ionic liquid mixed with the pore-filling polymer; or (b) an amorphous fluorochemical film disposed on the composite membrane.

Provided herein are methods of fabricating membranes using polymers with functionalized groups such as sulfone (e.g., PSf and PES), ether (e.g., PES), acrylonitrile (e.g., PAN), fluoride(e.g., pvdf and other fluoropolymers), and imide (e.g., extem) and ionic liquids. Also provided are membranes made by the provided methods.

This ionic liquid-containing laminate includes a porous layer having affinity with ionic liquids (C), said layer holding an ionic liquid-containing liquid (A) within voids therein, and a porous layer lacking affinity with ionic liquids (B). The porous layer having affinity with ionic liquids (C) may include an inorganic material (e.g., metal oxide particles having an average particle size of 0.001 to 10 m on a number basis). The ionic liquid-containing liquid (A) may include an ionic liquid containing cations selected from ammonium, imidazolium and phosphonium cations, and anions selected from fluorine-containing anions, cyano-containing anions and amino acid-derived anions. The porous layer having affinity with ionic liquids (C) may include 1 to 100 volume parts of the ionic liquid-containing liquid (A) with respect to 100 volume parts of voids therein. The ionic liquid-containing laminate is easily formable, and is able to stably hold (or fix) the ionic liquid while maintaining said liquid in a liquid state.

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.