A method for manufacturing a self-healing hydrogel-filled separation membrane for water treatment includes soaking a porous support comprising pores in a monomer solution to fill the pores with the solution, removing the excessively filled monomer solution from the porous support, and forming a hydrogel in the pores by crosslinking the monomer. The separation membrane does not require an additional repair process when damage occurs to the separation membrane and can exhibit superior self-healing effect and physical stability.

An electrochemical compressor utilizes an anion conducting layer disposed between an anode and a cathode for transporting a working fluid. The working fluid may include carbon dioxide that is dissolved in water and is partially converted to carbonic acid that is equilibrium with bicarbonate anion. An electrical potential across the anode and cathode creates a pH gradient that drives the bicarbonate anion across the anion conducting layer to the cathode, wherein it is reformed into carbon dioxide. Therefore, carbon dioxide is pumped across the anion conducting layer. The compressor may be part of a refrigeration system that pumps the working fluid in a closed loop through a condenser and an evaporator.

The present invention relates to a thin-film composite (TFC) membrane composition comprising macrocycles. The invention also relates in part to a method of fabricating a TFC membrane and to a method of using the TFC membrane to separate a desired liquid or gas from a liquid or gas mixture.

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 the development and fabrication of thin-film polymer composite materials containing vertically aligned nanopores. The present invention provides methods of aligning nanopores in a polymeric film. The present invention also provides composite materials and methods of fabricating composite materials containing vertically aligned nanopores.

A coated, thin-film composite membrane includes a porous support and a polyamide barrier layer in contact with the porous support. A fouling-resistant and antimicrobial layer of star polymers is in contact with the polyamide barrier layer. The star polymers included hydrophilic arms of about 40 mol % to about 80 mol % of neutral hydrophilic moieties, and about 60 mol % to about 20 mol % of antimicrobial functional groups.

A composite membrane for selectively pervaporating a first liquid from a mixture comprising the first liquid and a second liquid. 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 polymer is more permeable to the first liquid than the second liquid but not soluble in the first liquid or the second liquid. The composite membrane may be asymmetric or symmetric with respect to the amount of pore-filling polymer throughout the thickness of the porous substrate.

The invention provides polymer-grafted and functionalized nonwoven membranes adapted for use in bioseparation processes, the membranes including a nonwoven web of polyester fibers having an average fiber diameter of less than about 1.5 microns, each of the plurality of polyester fibers having grafted thereon a plurality of polymer segments constructed of a methacrylate polymer, each polymer segment carrying a functional group adapted for binding to a target molecule. The invention also provides a method of bioseparation comprising passing a solution comprising the target molecule, such as a protein, through the nonwoven membrane of the invention such that at least a portion of the target molecule in the solution binds to the nonwoven membrane. A method for preparing a polymer-grafted and functionalized nonwoven membrane adapted for use in bioseparation processes is also provided.

The present invention aims to provide a gas-selective permeable membrane that has gas permeability and gas selectivity capable of highly separating a target gas from other gases, is less likely to be influenced by the temperature condition employed, and is excellent in strength and handleability. The invention uses at least one or more polymerizable compounds to provide a gas-selective permeable film that contains a polymer having an optically uniaxial or multiaxial molecular alignment and to provide a laminate including a gas-permeable substrate and the permeable membrane laminated thereon.

A method for manufacturing a porous film includes: a first step of preparing droplets (D) which are formed from a first liquid into spheres with a predetermined diameter of 10 ?m or more and 2000 ?m or less and a second liquid (L2) which includes a curing agent which cures by imparting energy or a curing agent which cures due to change in pH and includes droplets dispersed therein; a second step of injecting the droplets and the second liquid into a gap between a pair of substrates (31 and 32); a third step of curing the second liquid to form an external phase, and the fourth step of removing the droplets in the external phase to form hole sections.