The present invention relates to the technical field of filtering materials and provides a reverse osmosis membrane support material. The support material is obtained by hot pressing treatment of a surface layer, a middle layer and a bottom layer which are sequentially disposed from top to bottom. The surface layer and the bottom layer are each a spunbond non-woven fabric layer made of thermoplastic polymer spunbonded fibers, and the middle layer is a polymer nanofiber membrane. In accordance with the invention, the comprehensive mechanical strength of the reverse osmosis membrane support material is improved, and the overall anti-leakage performance is enhanced. A spunbond technology and a nanofiber preparation technology are combined organically, and the method is simple and controllable. The support material can be produced in batches.

A nanofiber for a filter medium is provided that includes fiber-forming ingredients including polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and an emulsifying agent for improving the miscibility of the fiber-forming ingredients. The nanofiber has excellent mechanical strength and chemical resistance and, at the same time, significantly increased hydrophilicity without a separate surface modification/treatment to/on the nanofiber. A filter medium comprising said nanofiber can exhibit improved flux and filtration efficiency and excellent physical properties in a water treatment process in which a pressure equal to or more than a predetermined level is applied and which requires the filter medium to have high mechanical strength and in a water treatment process which requires chemical resistance as the liquid being filtered is strongly acidic or alkaline. Further, since the nanofiber has significantly superior spinnability, the mass productivity of the filter medium is significantly improved, and the unit costs of production can be reduced.

The present disclosure relates to hollow fiber tangential flow filters, including hollow fiber tangential flow depth filters, for various applications, including bioprocessing and pharmaceutical applications, systems employing such filters, and methods of filtration using the same.

A water filtration membrane is provided, capable of removing heavy metal ions, filtering out particulates, filtering out bacteria, as well as removing herbicides and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from water. The membrane is composed of a mat of randomly oriented nanoparticle-coated nanofibers. The nanofibers are covalently bonded to a plurality of substantially uniformly-distributed ceramic nanoparticles embedded in or adhered on the surface of the polymer nanofibers through reactive functional groups. The ceramic nanoparticles have a pattern of deep grooves formed on the nanoparticle surfaces. The bonding of the nanoparticles to the nanofibers is sufficient to retain the nanoparticles on the nanofiber surfaces when water flows through the water filtration membrane. The diameter of the nanofibers is 50-200 nm. The size of the nanoparticles is <40 nm, with a zeta potential of 40 to 45 mV in a dispersion medium. The nanoparticle deep grooves have an average size of approximately 1.2 nm or less.

Provided is a gas filter, which includes an adsorptive membrane for adsorbing foreign substances contained in a gas, wherein the adsorptive membrane has a corrugated structure folded in a number of times or a structure having a plurality of projections, in order to increase a contact surface area of the gas per unit area, and wherein the adsorptive membrane includes: a support member having a plurality of first pores; and a first adsorptive member which is stacked on the support member and has a plurality of second pores formed therein and which is made by accumulating ion exchange nanofibers for adsorbing foreign substances.

An inorganic structure body has a free-standing structure including a fibrous member and/or a shell. The fibrous member and/or the shell include a metal and/or an inorganic material and have a three-dimensionally continuous configuration. The free-standing structure may have a structure that is based on a nonwoven fabric or a porous membrane used as a substrate.

A process for manufacturing a porous body, includes preparing a dispersion liquid having a dispersion medium with cellulose-based nanofibers that have an average fiber diameter from 1 to 100 nm and dispersed therein, attaching the dispersion liquid to a porous support having a plurality of pores that connect with one another, removing the dispersion liquid attached to a surface of the porous support excluding an inside of pores of the porous support, and subsequently drying the porous support including the dispersion liquid in the pores of the porous support to remove the dispersion medium.

Disclosed herein are composite membranes comprising an omniphobic substrate having a reentrant structure. The omniphobic substrate comprises a plurality of pores, the plurality of pores forming the reentrant structure. The omniphobic substrate further comprises a surface, the surface being coated with a dual functional layer that is hydrophilic in air and oleophobic under water, such that the composite membrane has a top portion and a bottom portion, the top portion comprising the coated surface of the omniphobic substrate, such that the top portion of the composite membrane is hydrophilic in air and oleophobic under water and the bottom portion of the composite membrane is omniphobic. The composite membrane can be antiwetting and/or antifouling in the presence of a hydrophobic contaminant, an amphiphilic contaminant, or a combination thereof. The composite membranes can be used for membrane distillation of a contaminated brine solution.

A method for removing microorganisms from liquid samples and a nanofiber containing liquid filtration medium that simultaneously exhibits high liquid permeability and high microorganism retention. Microorganisms such as bacteria, particularly B. Diminuta, are removed from a liquid by passing the liquid through a porous nanofiber containing filtration medium having a B. Diminuta LRV greater than about 9, and the nanofiber(s) has a diameter from about 10 nm to about 1,000 nm. Another method for removing microorganisms such as bacteria and Mycloplasma, includes passing the liquid through a porous nanofiber containing filtration medium having a microorganism LRV greater than about 8, and the nanofiber(s) has a diameter from about 10 nm to about 1,000 nm. The filtration medium can be in the form of a fibrous electro spun polymeric nanofiber liquid filtration medium mat.

A polymer fiber formed of statistical copolymers, each of which contains zwitterionic repeat units and hydrophobic repeat units, the zwitterionic repeat units constituting 20-75 wt % of the statistical copolymer and the hydrophobic repeat units being characterized in that a homopolymer formed thereof has a glass transition temperature above room temperature. Also disclosed is a fibrous membrane containing such polymer fibers in which greater than 90% of the polymer fibers are each independently rib bon-shaped fibers or wrinkly fibers. A method of preparing such a fibrous membrane is disclosed as well.