A novel or improved base film for impregnation, impregnated base film, product incorporating the impregnated base film, and/or related methods as shown, claimed or described herein.

The present invention relates to a composite porous hollow-fiber membrane including a first layer and a second layer which each include a fluororesin-based polymer, in which at least a part of molecular chains of the fluororesin-based polymer is oriented in a longitudinal direction of the composite porous hollow-fiber membrane, the molecular chains of the fluororesin-based polymer have a degree of orientation it in the longitudinal direction of the composite porous hollow-fiber membrane of 0.4 or higher but less than 1.0, the degree of orientation it being calculated with the specific formula.

The present invention provides a porous hollow fiber membrane that has both high strength and high pure water permeability, and that exhibits excellent thermal deformation resistance. The present invention is related to a porous hollow fiber membrane containing a fluororesin-based polymer, and a manufacturing method of the membrane comprises a drawing step and a relaxing step. The porous hollow fiber membrane is characterized in that: the molecular chain of the polymer is oriented in the longitudinal direction of the hollow fiber membrane; and at the same time internal distortion of oriented non-crystalline chains, which is disadvantageous in terms of entropy, is alleviated.

The present invention relates to a process for producing a fluoropolymer article having a high surface roughness and high coarseness which comprises the following steps: a) forming a paste comprising a fluoropolymer into a paste-formed fluoropolymer product at a temperature lower than 50 C., b) densifying the paste-formed product, and c) stretching the densified paste-formed fluoropolymer product in at least one direction.

The present invention further relates to a fluoropolymer article obtainable by a process according to the invention.

The present invention furthermore relates to a fiber comprising, or consisting of, a fluoropolymer having a surface roughness expressed as a peak to valley distance (Rt) greater than 10 micrometer and/or an average surface roughness (Ra) greater than 1.5 micrometer.

The present invention furthermore relates to a membrane comprising, or consisting of, a fluoropolymer having a coarseness index /EBP of at least 0.3, an air permeability of 15 ft.sup.3/ft.sup.2/min or higher and a node aspect ratio of below 25.

Halogen-free, microporous polyolefin membranes are disclosed herein. The halogen-free, microporous polyolefin membranes can be manufactured using an environmentally friendly manufacturing process that includes extrusion of polymer-plasticizer mixtures followed by sheet formation and extraction of the plasticizer with a halogen-free solvent. The halogen-free solvent has a flashpoint greater than about 23? C. and an initial boiling point at least about 50? C. lower than the flashpoint of the plasticizer. The process can further be a closed loop process in which the halogen-free solvent can be reused.

Provided is a microporous polyolefin membrane which has excellent oxidation resistance and electrolyte injection performance and further has excellent permeability and strength balance. The multilayer, microporous polyolefin membrane has a first microporous layer containing polypropylene. The electrolyte injection performance is 20 seconds or less, at least one surface layer is the first microporous layer, and the PP distribution in the first microporous layer is uniform in the in-plane direction.

Micro- and nanofilters with precision pore sizes and pore layout have applications in many fields including capturing circulating tumor cells and fetal cells in blood, water treatment, pathogen detection in water, etc. Methods to fabricate micro- and nanofilters not using track etching or reactive ion etching are provided, allowing easy fabrication of single layer or stack of films simultaneously, and/or stack of films on rolls. Microfilter can be made using one or more layers of material. Invention enables mass production of microfilters with lithographic quality at low cost. Isolation, enumeration and characterization of circulating tumor cells using microfilters provides (i) guides to cancer treatment selection and personalize dosage, (ii) low cost monitoring for treatment response, disease progression and recurrence, (iii) assessment of pharmacodynamic effects, (iv) information on mechanisms of resistance to therapy, and (v) cancer staging. Microfabrication methods are also applicable to fabrication of any free standing patterned polymeric films.

Hollow fiber membranes, membrane contactors, and related production and use methods. The membranes include a substrate having a multiplicity of pores and a skin layer overlaying the porous substrate. The porous substrate includes a first semi-crystalline thermoplastic polyolefin (co)polymer resin and a nucleating agent in an amount effective to achieve nucleation. The skin layer includes a second semi-crystalline thermoplastic polyolefin (co)polymer resin derived by polymerizing at most 98 wt. % of 4-methyl-1-pentene monomer with at least 2 wt. % of linear or branched alpha olefin monomers. Preferably, the first thermoplastic polyolefin (co)polymer is different from the second thermoplastic polyolefin (co)polymer. The skin layer is less porous than the porous substrate and forms an outer surface of the hollow fiber with the porous substrate forming an inner surface. The hollow fibers are formed by co-extruding the porous substrate resin and the skin layer resin through an annular die.

A dry-process porous membrane having an oxygen induction time (OIT) greater than 3 minutes, greater than 5 minutes, greater than 10 minutes, greater than 15 minutes, greater than 20 minutes, or greater than 25 minutes where OIT is measured at 215? C. and 100% O.sub.2. The dry-process porous membrane may be a microporous polyolefin membrane.

A porous membrane comprising a thermoplastic resin, and having a densely structured layer, wherein the ratio of crystal strength to crystal strength of the thermoplastic resin in the densely structured layer is 5.0 or more.