This invention relates to membranes of two dimensional material and their uses in filtration. The membranes may include polyaromatic molecules which provide a improvement in the rejection observed for small solutes. The two dimensional material may be a transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) or hexagonal boron nitride (hBN).

The invention relates to a catalytic activation layer for use in oxygen-permeable membranes, which can comprise at least one porous structure formed by interconnected ceramic oxide particles that conduct oxygen ions and electronic carriers, where the surface of said particles that is exposed to the pores is covered with nanoparticles made from a catalyst, the composition of which corresponds to the following formula: A.sub.1-x-yB.sub.xC.sub.yO.sub.R where: A can be selected from Ti, Zr, Hf, lanthanide metals and combinations thereof; B and C are metals selected from Al, Ga, Y, Se, B, Nb, Ta, V, Mo, W, Re, Mn, Sn, Pr, Sm, Tb, Yb, Lu and combinations of same; and A must always be different from B. 0.01<x<0.5; 0<y<0.3.

A porous membrane comprising stacked layers of nanosheets, each nanosheet comprising one to three atomic layers of a 2D material comprising or consisting of one or more transition metal dichalcogenides is provided. The nanosheets have pores and the membrane comprises a network of water permeation pathways including through-pathways formed by the pores, horizontal pathways formed by gaps between the layers, and vertical pathways formed by gaps between adjacent nanosheets and stacking defects between the layers. Also provided is a method for making the membrane.

A method for injecting ceramic particles into a fibrous texture includes placing a fibrous texture in a mould, injecting from one side a first suspension including a powder of large filtration particles to form a filtration layer, injecting from the opposite side a second suspension into the fibrous texture, the second suspension including a powder of small refractory ceramic particles, then draining through the filtration layer the liquid phase of the second suspension having passed through the fibrous texture and retaining the refractory ceramic particle powder inside the fibrous texture by the filtration layer of so as to obtain a fibrous preform including at least the fibrous texture filled with refractory ceramic particles and the filtration layer.

The present invention provides an ultrafiltration membrane comprising a sulfone polymer membrane matrix with pores and an organic polymer sealing layer, wherein the pores are filled with nanoadsorbents. The present invention further provides a method for preparing the ultrafiltration membrane, which includes the following steps: (1) synthesizing nanoadsorbents; (2) preparing the sulfone polymer membrane matrix by immersion-precipitation phase inversion; and (3) immobilizing nanoadsorbents in the pores of the sulfone polymer membrane matrix by reverse filling, then sealing the pores with organic polymers to form a multifunctional ultrafiltration membrane. In the present invention, colloidal gold, polyethylene glycol molecules and Pb(II) ions (and so forth) are utilized as models of viruses, macromolecular organic pollutants, and small molecular pollutants, respectively. It is shown that the multifunctional ultrafiltration membrane allows for removal of multiple pollutants from water and can simultaneously remove multiple pollutants under low pressure.

The present disclosure provides a method for producing a water permeable molecular sieve in which a porous substrate having micron-size pores has deposited on a surface thereof non-porous 2D platelets to seal, at the substrate surface, pores in the porous substrate to form a layer of 2D platelets. A curable sealing material is deposited onto the layer of 2D platelets and any remaining exposed areas of the surface of the porous substrate and curing the curable sealing material in order to form a sealed layer on the surface of the porous substrate to prevent water by-passing the non-porous 2D platelets and passing through the porous substrate. An array of sub-nanopores are then produced through the sealed layer with the array of sub-nanopores having a size to allow water to pass therethrough but not metal ions to give a water permeable molecular sieve characterized by water permeability at low di?erential pressures.

An apparatus for fabricating a graphene membrane includes a first section having a first fluid chamber for housing a suspension of graphene platelets in a fluid. A second section is positionable adjacent the first section. The second section has a second fluid chamber and a porous support housed in the second fluid chamber for supporting a porous substrate. When the first section is positioned adjacent to the second section and the porous substrate is supported by the porous support, the first fluid chamber and the second fluid chamber are in fluid communication via the porous substrate. The apparatus further includes a pressurizer for creating a pressure differential between the first fluid chamber and the second fluid chamber and thereby forcing the fluid through the porous substrate and into the second fluid chamber and lodging the graphene platelets in the pores of the porous substrate.

The present invention is directed to asymmetric membranes and methods for making such membranes, wherein the membranes have a void volume and nanoparticles located in the void volume. The membranes have a variety of applications, including blood purification, water purification, water decontamination and bioprocessing.

A filter membrane includes carbon nanotubes and carbon nitride nanoparticles. Inter-particle atomic interactions between the carbon nanotubes and the carbon nitride nanoparticles bind the carbon nanotubes and the carbon nitride nanoparticles together. A filter cartridge includes such a filter membrane disposed within an outer housing between a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet such that fluid passing through the outer housing between the fluid inlet and the fluid outlet passes through the filter membrane. Such filter membranes may be formed by dispersing carbon nanotubes and carbon nitride nanoparticles in a liquid to form a suspension, and passing the suspension through a filter to deposit the nanotubes and nanoparticles on the filter. Liquid may be filtered by causing the liquid to pass through such a filter membrane.

The two-dimensional metal carbide desalination membrane includes a stack of two-dimensional metal carbide layers. A two-dimensional metal carbide included in the two-dimensional metal carbide layers may have the formula Ti.sub.3C.sub.2T.sub.x, where T represents a terminating functional group, and x represents a number of the terminating functional groups. The terminating group may be oxygen, hydroxide (OH), fluorine or combinations thereof. The two-dimensional metal carbide desalination membrane includes nano-channels which are selectively permeable to ions. The two-dimensional metal carbide desalination membrane is selectivity permeable to a number of different cations, including Li.sup.+, Na.sup.+, K.sup.+, Mg.sup.2+, Ca.sup.2+, Ni.sup.2+ and Al.sup.3+, with counter Cl.sup.? anions. Permeation rates depend on the charges of the cations and the ions' hydrated radius, with a critical point around 4.0 ?. The two-dimensional metal carbide desalination membranes can be used as desalination and/or water filtration membranes.