The invention is an improved method of making an improved carbon molecular sieve (CMS) membrane in which a precursor polymer (e.g., polyimide) is pyrolyzed at a pyrolysis temperature to form a CMS membrane that is cooled to ambient temperature (about 40° C. or 30° C. to about 20° C.). The CMS membrane is then reheated to a reheating temperature of at least 250° C. to 400° C. to form the improved CMS membrane. The CMS have a novel microstructure as determined by Raman spectroscopy. The improved CMS membranes have shown an improved combination of selectivity and permeance as well as stability for separating light hydrocarbon gas molecules such as C.sub.1 to C.sub.6 hydrocarbon gases (e.g., methane, ethane, propane, ethylene, propylene, butane, butylene).

The very purpose of an improved oil recovery or an enhanced oil recovery method is to mobilize oil from an oil-bearing formation as stable wet oil emulsion to an oil gathering center. Yet, the very purpose of the latter is to de-stabilize such a stable emulsion using a multitude of redundant oil-water separation steps and bulky equipment. Methods are herein provided for preparing a material for casting a flat-sheet, extruding a solid-fiber, and/or extruding a hollow-fiber utilizing an aqueous amine solution as an effective solvent to form a crystalline polymorph structure of the material. This material in the form of, for example, an effective and selective oil-wet membrane can be used to simultaneously de-mix oil and water phases from a wet oil emulsion, whether the emulsion is stable or instable.

A dual-layer membrane and a method for preparing thereof. By adding a modifying monomer containing an active group and a characteristic group to a dope solution or spinning solution during the preparation of the dual-layer membrane, the grafting reaction occurs between the active group of the monomer and the polymer in the dope solution or spinning solution, and the intermolecular interaction with other polymers is enhanced by the characteristic group of the monomer, to improve the miscibility between the polymers. The method is suitable for preparing both a dual-layer flat sheet membrane and a dual-layer hollow fiber membrane, and can realize the preparation of a dual-layer membrane with an interpenetrated structure at the interface under mild preparation conditions.

A homogeneous fiber reinforced PVDF hollow fiber membrane and a preparation method thereof are provided. The membrane includes a hollow tubular reinforcement made of PVDF fibers and a polymer separation layer made of PVDF casting solution; wherein the polymer separation layer casting solution comprises 4-25% PVDF resin, 5-20% pore-forming agent, 0-3% inorganic particles and 52-91% solvent according to mass fraction. The preparation method includes steps of: (1) preparing a hollow tubular reinforcement made of PVDF fibers; (2) preparing a PVDF polymer separation layer casting solution; and (3) obtaining the homogeneous fiber reinforced PVDF hollow fiber membrane.

The present invention is directed towards a method for the preparation of macroporous or mesoporous polymer films in hollow fiber geometry. The method according to the present invention reliably produces macroporous or mesoporous homopolymer or copolymer films in hollow fiber geometry having an ordered porous structure. Preferably, the pores are isoporous. The method involves the purging or casting a polyol adjacent to a film forming polymer solution of at least one homopolymer or at least one copolymer in a suitable solvent while polyol diffuses in and then condenses out of the film forming solution before the solution is immersed into a coagulation bath. The methods also require the presence of a carrier solution or carrier substrate during spinning or casting. The method makes macroporous or mesoporous film formation possible with a single step processing method.

The porous hollow fiber membrane of the present invention contains a thermoplastic resin, and includes a surface having a surface porosity of 32 to 60% and a fine pore diameter of 300 nm or less, and has a compressive strength of 0.7 MPa or more. The porous hollow fiber membrane of the present invention may include at least two layers, and in this case, the surface of one layer has a thickness of backbone of 0.3 to 20 m and a fine pore diameter of 0.3 to 10 m, and the surface of the other layer has a surface porosity of 32 to 60% and a fine pore diameter of 0.05 to 0.3 m.

The present disclosure relates to a spinning beam for producing hollow fiber membranes in a phase inversion process, and to a process using the spinning beam.

The porous hollow fiber membrane of the present invention contains a thermoplastic resin, and includes a surface having a surface porosity of 32 to 60% and a fine pore diameter of 300 nm or less, and has a compressive strength of 0.7 MPa or more. The porous hollow fiber membrane of the present invention may include at least two layers, and in this case, the surface of one layer has a thickness of backbone of 0.3 to 20 m and a fine pore diameter of 0.3 to 10 m, and the surface of the other layer has a surface porosity of 32 to 60% and a fine pore diameter of 0.05 to 0.3 m.

Disclosed is a hollow fiber that contains an outer layer made of a first polymer and an inner layer made of a second polymer, the inner layer including at its outer surface a macrovoid-free thin interface sublayer in contact with the inner surface of the outer layer. The first polymer is immiscible with the second polymer. Also disclosed is a process of preparing the above-described hollow fiber.

A co-extrusion die is configured to produce a multilayer extrusion comprising component layers of an electrochemical cell. The die comprises a plurality of inlet ports configured to receive a plurality of pressurized fluids comprising at least a first metallic ink, a second metallic ink, and a polymeric ink. A plurality of channels are configured to separately transport and shape the plurality of fluids from the plurality of inlet ports to a merge section, such that the plurality of fluids flow together in the merge section to form the multilayer extrusion comprising a polymeric membrane layer disposed between and in contact with a first metallic layer and a second metallic layer. A thickness of each layer within the merge section is controllable by adjustment of a pressure of the plurality of pressurized fluids. An outlet port is configured to output the multilayer extrusion onto a substrate.