A separation membrane module includes a separation membrane including a hydrophobic polymer, a hydrophilic polymer, and polymer A, wherein the polymer A includes a hydrophilic unit and a hydrophobic unit, and is a copolymer having an alkyl group having 2 to 20 carbon atoms at a side-chain terminal of the hydrophobic unit, the separation membrane module having a retention rate of an albumin sieving coefficient of 86% or more at 60 minutes after circulation start relative to an albumin sieving coefficient at 10 minutes after circulation start when 2 L of bovine blood containing 50 U/ml of heparin, and having a hematocrit of 30% by volume and a total protein concentration of 6 to 7 g/dl is circulated at a flow rate of 100 ml/min at 37° C. and a filtration flow rate of 10 ml/(min.Math.m.sup.2).

The present invention provides a method for manufacturing a porous membrane having high water permeability and hydrophilicity, which is not easily affected by a treatment such as washing, the method including: preparing, as a substrate, a membrane having a plurality of pores, which includes a water-insoluble resin such as polysulfone and a water-soluble resin including a monomer unit of polyvinylpyrrolidone or a monomer unit of polyvinyl alcohol; and irradiating the substrate with an electron beam in the presence of an aqueous solvent to crosslink at least a part of the water-soluble resin.

One aspect of the present invention is a composite hollow fiber membrane including: a semipermeable membrane layer; and a supporting layer that has a hollow fiber shape and is porous, wherein the semipermeable membrane layer contains a crosslinked polyamide polymer composed of a polyfunctional amine compound and a polyfunctional acid halide compound, the supporting layer has a gradient structure in which pores of the supporting layer gradually increase in size from one of an inner surface and an outer surface to the other, has a cut-off particle size of 0.001 to 0.3 μm, and contains a crosslinked hydrophilic resin on at least a dense surface having smaller pores of the inner surface and the outer surface, and the semipermeable membrane layer is in contact with the dense surface of the supporting layer.

A medical material is capable of suppressing adhesion of platelets and proteins even when in contact with biological components such as blood for an extended period of time. The medical material is a copolymer including hydrophobic units and hydrophilic units in which the hydrophobic units have a C2-20 terminal alkyl group in a side chain, the static contact angle of water in the copolymer is at least 30 and less than 70, and the glass transition temperature of the copolymer exists at only one point in the range from 45 C. to less than 90 C.

The present invention relates to polymeric membranes. In particular, the present invention relates to the use of membranes comprising polyvinyl alcohol in electrophoresis.

A reverse osmosis membrane is disclosed that has a hydrogel disposed on its surface, wherein the hydrogel is formed from a crosslinked polyvinylpyrrolidone or a copolymer of vinyl pyrrolidone. The hydrogel-coated membrane resists fouling by feed water contaminants. The permeate flux rate and salt rejection of the underlying membrane are not negatively affected by the hydrogel coating.

Membranes, methods of making the membranes, and methods of using the membranes are described herein. The membranes can comprise a support layer, and a selective polymer layer disposed on the support layer. In some cases, the support layer can comprise a gas permeable polymer and hydrophilic additive dispersed within the gas permeable polymer. In some cases, the selective polymer layer can comprise a selective polymer matrix and carbon nanotubes dispersed within the selective polymer matrix. The membranes can exhibit selective permeability to gases. As such, the membranes can be for the selective removal of carbon dioxide and/or hydrogen sulfide from hydrogen and/or nitrogen.

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 obtained hollow fiber membrane has high water permeability, and has, when used as a humidifying membrane, a linear relationship between supply humidity and humidification amount. Therefore, the hollow fiber membrane is effectively used, for example, as a humidifying membrane for fuel cells. The method for producing a polyphenylsulfone hollow fiber membrane according to present invention can provide a humidifying membrane that suppresses segregation and crosslinking of hydrophilic polymers associated with the operation of the humidifying membrane, and that prevents the deterioration of humidification performance due to the operation. In addition, the producing method of the present invention can produce a polyphenylsulfone hollow fiber membrane for humidifying membranes, wherein the hollow fiber membrane has high water permeability, and has, when used as a crosslinked humidifying membrane, a linear relationship between water vapor supply humidity and humidification amount.

The present invention provides a porous hollow fiber membrane suitable for the removal of minute substances, e.g., viruses, contained in a liquid. The present invention relates to a porous hollow fiber membrane which is provided with a separation-functioning layer containing a fluororesin, has a gas diffusion amount of 0.5 to 5.0 mL/m.sup.2/hr as measured in a diffusion test, and also has foaming points at a density of 0.005 to 0.2 point/cm.sup.2 as measured in a foaming test under the immersion in 2-propanol.