The present invention provides a nanocomposite coating comprising: a two-dimensional material; and a polymer, wherein the nanocomposite coating is semi-permeable and is for providing on porous material to improve selectivity towards one phase over others thereby enabling separation of that phase by mass transfer. There is also provided a phase transformation and mass transfer unit comprising porous material coated with the nanocomposite coating, and a low temperature liquid phase separation method comprising flowing liquid mixture through a phase transformation and mass transfer unit comprising porous material coated with the nanocomposite coating.

The present disclosure provides a composite material. The composite material comprises nanoparticles and a flexible substrate, the nanoparticles comprise one or more of carbon nanotubes, graphene, gold nanoparticles, and polydopamine nanoparticles, the flexible substrate comprises one or more of thermosetting plastics such as polydimethylsiloxane and a hydrogel, and the mass percentage of the nanoparticles in the composite material is 0 to 60‰. The composite material of the present disclosure is easy to prepare, has extremely strong photothermal conversion performance, and does not change the smooth surface of an original topological structure. Meanwhile, the composite material has universality and versatility for different cells, the delivery efficiency is close to 100%, and modified cells may be efficiently and non-destructively released and harvested by means of traditional trysinization, and the harvesting efficiency is 90% or more.

Provided are a polar carbon nanotube dispersion which may be dispersed in a solvent at a high concentration, and a separator having improved filtration efficiency based on a polar carbon nanotube manufactured from the dispersion and a polar one-dimensional carbon body. According to the separator and the method for manufacturing the same of the present invention, a polar carbon nanotube dispersion which may be dispersed in a solvent at a high concentration even without use of a surfactant or a stabilizer may be prepared, and a separator which is not easily exfoliated and may be stably used even under a high pressure may be manufactured, based on a polar carbon nanotube prepared from the polar carbon nanotube dispersion and a polar one-dimensional carbon body.

Disclosed herein are membranes comprising: porous substrate; and two or more graphene oxide (GO) sheets disposed on the porous substrate, each GO layer comprising a plurality of GO flakes, each GO flake comprising a planar graphene structure with oxygen moieties extending therefrom, wherein the membrane, when a pressure from 10 bar to 50 bar of transmembrane pressure is applied from 1 hour to 48 hours, has an aqueous flux wherein the aqueous flux changes by 5% or less while the pressure is applied. The membranes can also include an intercalating agent disposed between the two or more GO sheets, the intercalating agent interacting with each GO sheet, wherein the intercalating agent provides a non-covalent stabilization of the two or more GO sheets. Also disclosed herein are methods of making and using the same and systems for implementing the same.

There is provided a multi-layered membrane comprising a top layer, a bottom layer, and a spacer layer; wherein said spacer layer is interposed between said top layer and said bottom layer; wherein said top layer, said bottom layer and said spacer layer are each independently composed of one or more selective layers, each selective layer comprising a 2D material; wherein said spacer layer comprises at least one channel for receiving a fluid; wherein said bottom layer comprises a hole with an area in the range of 1 μm.sup.2 to 1 mm.sup.2; and wherein said hole is capable of being in fluid communication with said at least one channels of said spacer layer.

There is also provided a method to synthesize the top layer of a multi-layered membrane as disclosed herein, methods for separating a plurality of ions or molecules in a fluid stream, a device comprising a multi-layered membrane as disclosed herein, and use of the method or the device as disclosed herein in osmotic power generation.

The present invention provides a multi-stage filter system suitable for the production of drinking water from a wide variety of contaminated water sources. The modular nature of the multi-stage filter system allows for the customization of filter combinations according to the remediation requirements. The multi-stage filter system comprises a coarse filter (S1); an ultrafiltration filter (S2); a graphene-based filter (S3); and a residual nanoparticle filter (S4). The graphene-based filter cartridge comprises few-layer graphene powder; a combination of few-layer graphene powder and pellets comprising a mixture of polyethersulfone, graphene oxide (GO), and dimethylformamide; a composite comprising chitosan, GO, sodium sulfate and ferric chloride; or a combination of few-layer graphene powder, granular activated carbon and a composite comprising chitosan, GO, sodium sulfate and ferric chloride.

A method for producing a gas separation membrane includes a step of leaving a dispersion liquid to stand still, the dispersion liquid being obtained by mixing zeolite microcrystalline bodies formed from MFI zeolite and graphene oxide with pure water, and covering the periphery of the zeolite microcrystalline bodies with the graphene oxide; a step of drying the dispersion liquid after being left to stand to obtain a powder; a step of subjecting the powder to a reduction treatment of the graphene oxide by means of heating; and a step of pressure-forming the powder after the reduction treatment so as to be formed into a membrane form.

A method of removing carbon dioxide from a gas can include providing a gaseous feed stream including a carbon dioxide gas and adsorbing the carbon dioxide gas with a porous carbon sorbent. The method can further include de-adsorbing the carbon dioxide and combining the carbon dioxide with a substantially pure hydrogen gas to produce at least one of methane and methanol. The adsorbing and de-adsorbing of the carbon dioxide gas can be conducted by an electric swing adsorption.

Systems and methods using: a membrane unit to treat fluids recovered from an oil and gas well are provided. The membrane unit may include a membrane having a porous substrate at. least partially coated with graphene oxide, making the membrane hydrophilic. The membrane separates water from other components within a fluid stream. The membrane unit may include an inlet to receive a fluid stream into the membrane unit. The fluid stream may be pretreated prior to reaching the membrane unit The membrane unit may also include a first outlet in fluid communication with one side of the membrane and a second outlet in fluid communication with the opposite side of the membrane.

There is provided a system and method for angstrom confinement of trapped ions. The method including: receiving water molecules and ionic compounds in a first reservoir, an angstrom confinement assembly is positioned between the first reservoir and a second reservoir, the angstrom confinement assembly defining angstrom conduits; and repeatedly applying an electric field across a first electrode and a second electrode, the first electrode on a same side of the angstrom confinement assembly as the first reservoir and the second electrode on a same side of the angstrom confinement assembly as the second reservoir, the electric field applied such that, when the electric field is applied, positive ions of the ionic compounds are induced to flow through the angstrom conduits, and wherein, when the electric field is not applied, water molecules flow into the angstrom conduits due to capillary forces to confine the positive ions in the angstrom conduits.