A bipolar membrane comprising a cation exchange mat of one or more cation exchange polymers, an anion exchange mat of one or more anion exchange polymers, and an internal 3D bipolar interface, disposed between the cation and anion exchange layers, including a mixture of at least one cation exchange polymer and at least one anion exchange polymer, such that an interface of the at least one cation exchange polymer and the at least one anion exchange polymer is the internal 3D bipolar interface that has a large area, and the at least one cation exchange polymer in the 3D bipolar interface is connected to the one or more cation exchange polymers of the cation exchange layer, and the at least one anion exchange polymer in the 3D bipolar interface is connected to the one or more anion exchange polymers of the anion exchange layer.

The present disclosure relates to a semipermeable membrane for water treatment, including a photoactive layer. The photoactive layer includes a plurality of one-dimensional nano structure bundles and the one-dimensional nano structure is nano-structured so that a surface of the semipermeable membrane for water treatment has a hydrophobicity.

Some embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a method of regenerating at least one filter medium comprising: providing at least one filter medium, wherein the at least one filter medium comprises: at least one catalyst material; and ammonium bisulfate (ABS) deposits, ammonium sulfate (AS) deposits, or any combination thereof; flowing a flue gas stream transverse to a cross-section of a filter medium, such that the flue gas stream passes through the cross section of the at least one filter medium, wherein the flue gas stream comprises: NOx compounds comprising: Nitric Oxide (NO), and Nitrogen Dioxide (NO.sub.2); and increasing an NOx removal efficiency of the at least one filter medium after removal of deposits.

An apparatus may include a lower chamber to contain a culture that emits volatile organic compounds, an upper chamber, a first sensor within the upper chamber, a second sensor within the upper chamber in a transport selector. The second sensor may be different than the first sensor so as to sense volatile organic compounds differently than the first sensor. The transport selector is to transport a selected portion of the volatile organic compounds emitted from the lower chamber to the first sensor and a second portion of the volatile organic compounds emitted from the lower chamber to the second sensor.

The present invention is directed to rigid filtration apparatus comprising a filter support and filter membrane. Such filter support is comprised of a central core. Radiating from the central core are a plurality of pleats composed of two angled walls terminating at a contact point. Such longitudinal walls circumscribe a longitudinal channel situated between the walls wherein the longitudinal channel is in communication with the central core. The longitudinal walls are comprised of a plurality of openings along the walls. A filter membrane having biocidal components may be utilized with the filter support to effectively treat contaminated fluid, gas or air. Alternatively, the composition of the rigid central core and the rigid pleats may be composed of different materials to selectively remove chemicals, biological components or pharmaceuticals in a multi-stage treatment process.

A lower chamber is to contain a culture that emits a volatile organic compound. A sensor is within an upper chamber. A transport accelerator/selector transports the volatile organic compound in the lower chamber towards the sensor.

A bipolar membrane BP characterized in that particles 5 of a basic metal chloride are distributed in the interface between a cation-exchange membrane 1 and an anion-exchange membrane 3.

A support is a porous ceramic support for supporting a zeolite membrane. The hydraulic conductivity of the support is less than or equal to 1.110.sup.3 m/s. In the support, the total content of alkali metal and alkaline earth metal in a surface part within 30 m from a surface in a depth direction perpendicular to the surface is less than or equal to 1% by weight.

An ultra-thin anion exchange membrane incorporates functional additives to provide improved water management. Without the functional additives the ultra-thin membrane may have high cross-over and not be effective for many applications. A composite anion exchange membrane includes a porous scaffold support such as a porous polymer. The anion exchange polymer may be coupled to the porous scaffold, such as by being imbibed into the pores of the porous scaffold. The functional additives may contribute to increase water production, water retention, back-diffusion and reduce the gas crossover. A functional additive may include a reactive species, including a catalyst that reacts with oxygen or hydrogen, a plasticizer, a hygroscopic material and/or a radical scavenger.

Disclosed herein is a membrane comprising a bonding layer; and an activation layer disposed on the bonding layer and in contact with it; where the activation layer comprises catalyst nanoparticles that are operative to decompose impurities contained in an aqueous solution to generate gas bubbles that remove a sludge disposed on the membrane. Disclosed herein too is a method of purifying an aqueous solution comprising disposing in the aqueous solution, a membrane that comprises a bonding layer and an activation layer; where the activation layer comprises catalyst nanoparticles; partitioning the aqueous solution into a concentrate portion and a filtrate portion; where the activation layer contacts the concentrate portion; and decomposing impurities contained in the aqueous solution to generate gas bubbles that remove a sludge disposed on the membrane.