A microfiltration device comprises a substrate having a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface. The substrate includes a cavity between the first surface and the second surface. The substrate further includes a microfilter including a frame part in contact with the substrate and a filter part abutting the cavity. The microfilter comprises in both the frame part and the filter part a semiconducting or conducting material.

Provided are flux enhancing inclusion complexes for preparing highly permeable thin film composite membranes, and processes that include adding the flux enhancing inclusion complexes to the organic phase or aqueous phase prior to interfacial polymerization of the thin film composite membrane. The thin film composite membranes are suitable for nanofiltration, and reverse and forward osmosis. The provided processes can include contacting a porous support membrane with an aqueous phase containing a polyamine to form a coated support membrane, and applying an organic phase containing a polyfunctional acid halide and a flux enhancing inclusion complex to the coated support membrane to interfacially polymerize the polyamine and the polyfunctional acid halide to form a discrimination layer to form thin film composite membranes.

A composite nanoporous metal membrane, a method of making same, and a method of using same to filter supercritical CO.sub.2 are provided. The method of making generally includes a) providing a sintered coarse porous layer; b) applying to an outer face of the coarse porous layer second metal particles; c) sintering to form a structure comprising coarse and intermediate layers; d) applying a suspension of third metal particles; e) drying the suspension of third particles; f) pressing the dried layer of third particles; and g) sintering to form a composite nanoporous metal membrane. The composite nanoporous metal membrane generally includes: a) a sintered coarse layer; b) an intermediate layer comprising first metal particles and second metal particles joined in a sintered structure which is sintered to the coarse layer; and c) a fine layer comprising third metal particles joined in a sintered structure which is sintered to the intermediate layer.

Disclosed herein is a porous membrane comprising a porous substrate; a porous ceramic coating disposed on the porous substrate; where an average pore size of pores in the porous substrate are larger than an average pore size of pores in the porous coating. Disclosed herein is a method of manufacturing a porous membrane comprising disposing upon a porous substrate a porous ceramic coating, where the porous ceramic coating has an average pore size that is less than an average pore size of the porous substrate.

A process for recycling and reusing supported Pd membranes includes the separation of the Pd (or Pd alloy) layer from the support by contacting the Pd membrane with hydrogen under pressure and at low temperature and then with a second gas that is different from hydrogen. The Pd layer separated from the support can then be treated to solubilize the Pd and, where appropriate, the alloy metal(s) to obtain salts that can be reused, for example in the preparation of new Pd membranes. The recovered supports are also reusable.

The disclosure relates to a method of producing a multi-metal catalyst film and of producing a reactor system for catalytic removal of a wide variety of contaminants (for example, nitrate, nitrite, perchlorate, chlorate, chromate, selenate, chlorophenols, 2,4-D, dicamba, atrazine, trichloroacetic acid, bromochloroiodomethane, NDMA, TCE, TCA, chloroform, freons, RDX, HMX, TNT, PFOA, and PFOS) from water and wastewater. The disclosure also relates to a method of using the multi-metal catalyst for the removal of such contaminants and a system comprising the multi-metal catalyst film for removing such contaminants.

Adsorptive membranes with sponge-like structures for direct recovery of lithium from geothermal brines and recycling of water from geothermal evaporation ponds are disclosed. The membrane surfaces are functionalized with task-specific chemicals capable of selective separation of lithium through host-guest complexation mechanism. The sponge-like structure provides high surface area resulting in an enhanced lithium adsorption capacity. The technology disclosed here aims to reduce the time required for lithium enrichment by evaporative concentration of geothermal brines and address the water loss problem thereof through enhanced solar-driven recycling of water.

The instant disclosure discloses a workpiece container system comprising a storage assembly that comprises a seat member. The seat member has a storage portion that defines a longitudinal axis through a geometric center region thereof, provided with a workpiece receiving region that encompasses the geometric center region and configured to receive a workpiece. The seat member has a pair of flank portions arranged on opposite sides of the storage portion along the longitudinal axis, each having a thickness thinner than that of the storage portion. A diffuse inducing component is provided on the storage portion in the workpiece receiving region yet offsets the geometric center region thereof.