A method of enhancing hydrophilicity of a hydrophobic polymer material includes pre-treating the hydrophobic polymer material. The pre-treating includes treating the hydrophobic polymer material with a first atmospheric pressure plasma discharge in a first atmosphere including carbon dioxide to obtain a pre-treated polymer material. The method includes treating the pre-treated polymer material with a second atmospheric pressure plasma discharge in a second atmosphere in which an aerosol of an amine is introduced; the amine includes at least one hydrocarbon substituent. A substrate is provided that includes a hydrophobic polymer material having a modified interface. The modified interface includes amine functional groups grafted on the hydrophobic polymer material, the modified interface having a surface energy, which, measured after immersion in water at 20? C. for 3 days, differs from a surface energy of the hydrophobic polymer material by 20 mN/m or less.

Described are hydrophilic polymers (including in the form of a filter membranes that includes hydrophilic polymer) having pendant ionic groups; to methods of making the hydrophilic polymer with pendant ionic groups and derivative membranes and filters; and to method of using the filter membranes for filtering a fluid such as a liquid chemical to remove unwanted material from the fluid.

A polymeric membrane. The polymeric membrane includes a modified surface obtained from coating with hydrophilic monomers and curing the hydrophilic monomers with electron beam, wherein the polymeric membrane is selected from polyamide membranes and Ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) membranes; and wherein the hydrophilic monomers comprise at least one amino moiety; at least one polyoxyalkylene unit; and at least one (meth)acrylate moiety.

An object is to realize a novel reverse osmosis membrane (more specifically, reverse osmosis composite membrane) that is capable of suppressing biofouling. The object is attained with use of a reverse osmosis composite membrane which is obtained by chemically modifying a surface thereof with a compound that has an amino group and that is obtained by modifying the amino group with two molecules of -picolyl group and has a dipicolylamine structure.

A disposable, virus-trapping membrane, and a corresponding method to remove viruses from solution are described. The membrane includes a disposable, micro-porous filter membrane and a ligand immobilized on the membrane. The ligand irreversibly and selectively binds viruses. The ligand also has a pKa sufficiently high to repel antibodies via electrostatic charge repulsion.

Hydrophilic fluoroplastic substrates and methods of making hydrophilic fluoroplastic substrates from 4-acryloylmorpholine are disclosed.

A desalination apparatus and a method of desalinating thereof, wherein the desalination apparatus comprises a perforated vessel and at least one engineered semi-permeable membrane that covers perforations on the perforated vessel, wherein the desalination apparatus forms a purified water from saline water when submerged in the saline water to a depth of 50-250 m to create sufficient pressure differential on both sides of the engineered semi-permeable membrane, wherein low-saline water flows through the engineered semi-permeable membrane and collected within an internal cavity of the desalination apparatus. Various embodiments of the desalination apparatus and the method of desalinating are also provided.

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 discloses high selectivity copolyimide membranes for gas, vapor, and liquid separations. Gas permeation tests on these copolyimide membranes demonstrated that they not only showed high selectivity for CO.sub.2/CH.sub.4 separation, but also showed extremely high selectivities for H.sub.2/CH.sub.4 and He/CH.sub.4 separations. These copolyimide membranes can be used for a wide range of gas, vapor, and liquid separations such as separations of CO.sub.2/CH.sub.4, He/CH.sub.4, CO.sub.2/N.sub.2, olefin/paraffin separations (e.g. propylene/propane separation), H.sub.2/CH.sub.4, He/CH.sub.4, O.sub.2/N.sub.2, iso/normal paraffins, polar molecules such as H.sub.2O, H.sub.2S, and NH.sub.3 mixtures with CH.sub.4, N.sub.2, H.sub.2. The high selectivity copolyimide membranes have UV cross-linkable sulfonyl functional groups and can be used for the preparation of UV cross-linked high selectivity copolyimide membranes with enhanced selectivities. The invention also includes blend polymer membranes comprising the high selectivity copolyimide and polyethersulfone. The blend polymer membranes comprising the high selectivity copolyimide and polyethersulfone can be further UV cross-linked under UV radiation.

Disclosed are a copolymer, porous membranes made from the copolymer, and a method of treating fluids using the porous membranes to remove metal ions, for example, from fluids originating in the microelectronics industry, wherein the copolymer includes polymerized monomeric units I and II, wherein monomeric unit I is of the formula A-XCH.sub.2B, wherein A is Rf(CH.sub.2)n, Rf is a perfluoro alkyl group of the formula CF.sub.3(CF.sub.2).sub.x, wherein x is 3-12, n is 1-6, X is O or S, and B is vinylphenyl, the monomeric unit II is haloalkyl styrene, and optionally wherein the halo group of haloalkyl is replaced with an optional substituent, for example, ethylenediamine tetra acetic acid, iminodiacetic acid, or iminodisuccinic acid.