Provided are processes of removing particulate fouling from a filtration membrane or for preventing membrane fouling by particulate matter. A process capitalizes on reversal of a naturally occurring diisophoretic particle deposition to actively move particulate material away from a membrane. A process includes placing a microparticle including a salt in proximity to a membrane such that the microparticle creates a gradient generated spontaneous electric field or a gradient generated spontaneous chemiphoretic field in the solvent proximal to the membrane that actively draws charged particles away from the membrane thereby removing charged particulate matter away from the membrane or preventing its deposition.

Provided are processes of removing particulate fouling from a filtration membrane or for preventing membrane fouling by particulate matter. A process capitalizes on reversal of a naturally occurring diisophoretic particle deposition to actively move particulate material away from a membrane. A process includes placing a microparticle including a salt in proximity to a membrane such that the microparticle creates a gradient generated spontaneous electric field or a gradient generated spontaneous chemiphoretic field in the solvent proximal to the membrane that actively draws charged particles away from the membrane thereby removing charged particulate matter away from the membrane or preventing its deposition.

A gas separation membrane has a gas separation layer containing a crosslinked cellulose resin. The crosslinked cellulose resin has a particular linking structure in a crosslinked structure. The gas separation layer contains an organic solvent in a particular amount.

A gas separation membrane has a gas separation layer containing a crosslinked cellulose resin. The crosslinked cellulose resin has a particular linking structure in a crosslinked structure. The gas separation layer contains an organic solvent in a particular amount.

The present invention provides a semipermeable membrane which has resistance to oxidizing agents even in the presence of heavy metals and which, despite this, can have salt-removing performance equal to that of semipermeable membranes having poor resistance to oxidizing agents. A coated semipermeable membrane of the invention includes a semipermeable layer and a polymer layer formed on the semipermeable layer, and the polymer layer includes a polymerization product formed by both condensation of hydrolyzable groups possessed by the following compound (A) and polymerization of the compound (A) with the following compound (B): (A) a silicon compound having a silicon atom, a reactive group including an ethylenically unsaturated group directly bonded to the silicon atom, and a hydrolyzable group directly bonded to the silicon atom; and (B) a compound other than the compound (A), which has both a hydrophilic group and an ethylenically unsaturated group.

The present invention provides a semipermeable membrane which has resistance to oxidizing agents even in the presence of heavy metals and which, despite this, can have salt-removing performance equal to that of semipermeable membranes having poor resistance to oxidizing agents. A coated semipermeable membrane of the invention includes a semipermeable layer and a polymer layer formed on the semipermeable layer, and the polymer layer includes a polymerization product formed by both condensation of hydrolyzable groups possessed by the following compound (A) and polymerization of the compound (A) with the following compound (B): (A) a silicon compound having a silicon atom, a reactive group including an ethylenically unsaturated group directly bonded to the silicon atom, and a hydrolyzable group directly bonded to the silicon atom; and (B) a compound other than the compound (A), which has both a hydrophilic group and an ethylenically unsaturated group.

This invention describes a method and a device for efficient isolation of extracellular vesicles from animal and human biological fluids, as well as from culture fluid using equipment of standard diagnostic laboratories, that is, without the use of ultracentrifugation. These method and device can be applied for the diagnosis of various human diseases, as well as for therapeutic purposes, if the purified vesicles are used as an agent for drug delivery to the cells of the body. The device for the purification of extracellular vesicles contains at least two membrane filters: the first filter containing a membrane with pore sizes in the range from 400 to 600 nm, connected to the second filter containing a membrane with pores in the range from 95 to 200 nm. At the same time, the membranes of these filters are made of materials that practically do not bind biological polymers.

The present invention relates to a porous membrane including a polymer including a polyvinylidene fluoride-based resin as a main component, and a branched polyvinylidene fluoride-based resin as the polyvinylidene fluoride-based resin, in which the polymer has a value of a of 0.32 to 0.41 and a value of b of 0.18 to 0.42, each of which is determined by approximation according to the formula 1 below from a radius of gyration <S.sup.2>.sup.1/2 and an absolute molecular weight M.sub.w of the polymer which are measured by GPC-MALS (gel permeation chromatograph equipped with a multi-angle light scattering detector). <S.sup.2>.sup.1/2=bM.sub.w.sup.a (Formula 1)

A porous membrane material comprising a porous membrane substrate coated with a thin, uniform coating of a metal or metal alloy. The membrane material can have high electrical conductivity. The membrane material can exhibit a very high ratio of electrical conductivity to thermal conductivity. The porous membrane substrate may be removed to form the membrane.

A forward osmosis membrane characterized in that a thin membrane layer having the performance of a semi-permeable membrane is laminated on a polyketone support layer.