The present disclosure relates to a process for manufacturing a sterilizing filter comprising a plurality of hollow fiber membranes having a large inner diameter.

One aspect of the present invention provides a method of manufacturing a separator including: (a) obtaining a laminate by laminating a first porous support and a second porous support; (b) forming a functional layer by applying a composition including a binder and a solvent on both sides of the laminate and drying the composition; and (c) dividing the laminate into two separators along an interface formed by the lamination, and a separator manufactured using the method.

A water-permeable device. The device has a supporting layer and a water-permeable membrane. The water-permeable membrane includes graphene layers that are aligned to form interlayer hydrophobic channels between the graphene layers. The interlayer hydrophobic channels are positioned to be aligned with the direction of water permeation. Also disclosed are systems and methods for water treatment.

A layered electroosmotic structure for transporting fluid by electroosmotic transport includes a porous layer; a first electrode located on a first side of the porous layer; and a second electrode located on a second side of the porous layer. The first electrode may include a first surface that faces the porous layer, wherein the first surface of the first electrode includes a region that is electrically insulating. The first electrode and/or the second electrode may not be in electrical contact with an edge region of the porous layer. Methods of manufacturing the layered electroosmotic structures are also provided.

Systems and methods for treating a membrane are described. The method includes causing a nanomaterial to contact at least a portion of a wall of at least on channel extending through a membrane, and causing the nanomaterial to adhere to the portion of the wall of the at least one channel. A fluid filtration system is also described. The filtration system includes a housing and a filter membrane. The housing may have a reservoir and a filter compartment. The filter membrane may have a channel extending therethrough. The channel may have a plurality of micropores along a wall thereof. The filter compartment may be configured to receive the filter membrane therein, the filter membrane configured to guide fluid thereacross to remove substances from the fluid or to modify substances in the fluid.

The present invention relates to a variable-diameter spinning nozzle, processing devices for hollow fiber membrane bundle and membrane module. The variable-diameter spinning nozzle comprises a center round tube, a middle round tube and an external chamber which are sequentially nested, and a first drive mechanism for driving the middle round tube to move vertically upwards and downwards. The bottoms of the center round tube, the middle round tube and the external chamber are leveled. The variable-diameter spinning nozzle provided by present invention obtains membrane fiber by adjusting the location of the middle round tube, and this membrane fiber involves membrane fiber heads with relatively large diameter on both ends and a membrane fiber middle section with relatively small diameter. In the subsequent process of binding and assembly of membrane module, porosity of the membrane fiber middle section can be adjusted by controlling a diameter ratio of the membrane fiber head to the membrane fiber middle section, and thus arbitrary fill density and regular arrangement of membrane module are achieved.

A filter unit (20, 320, 420, 820, 1020) is provided that includes a filtration chamber (30, 330, 430, 830, 1030) and a filter assembly (32, 132, 232, 432, 532, 632, 732, 832, 1032). A filter cartridge (28, 128, 328, 428, 528, 728, 828, 1028) of the filter assembly (32, 132, 232, 432, 532, 632, 732, 832, 1032) includes a support shell (44, 144, 344, 444, 744, 844) and a filter (60, 860) coupled to a support-shell side wall (50, 350, 850) so as to cover support-shell side openings (52, 352, 852). A handle (62, 162, 262, 362, 662, 762, 862, 1062) of the filter assembly (32, 132, 232, 432, 532, 632, 732, 832, 1032) is coupled to a proximal end of the support shell (44, 144, 344, 444, 744, 844). The filter assembly (32, 132, 232, 432, 532, 632, 732, 832, 1032) is partially insertable into the filtration chamber (30, 330, 430, 830, 1030), such that the filter assembly (32, 132, 232, 432, 532, 632, 732, 832, 1032) passes through a filter-assembly opening (40, 840) of the filtration chamber (30, 330, 430, 830, 1030); the handle (62, 162, 262, 362, 662, 762, 862, 1062) is disposed outside the filtration chamber (30, 330, 430, 830, 1030); and the filter cartridge (28, 128, 328, 428, 528, 728, 828, 1028) is disposed within the filtration chamber (30, 330, 430, 830, 1030). The filter (60, 860) is configured to filter biological particulate from a liquid specimen sample (22) when the liquid specimen sample (22) is driven along a fluid flow path (68, 868) while the filter cartridge (28, 128, 328, 428, 528, 728, 828, 1028) is disposed within the filtration chamber (30, 330, 430, 830, 1030). Other embodiments are also described.

Systems and methods for treating a membrane are described. The method includes causing a nanomaterial to contact at least a portion of a wall of at least on channel extending through a membrane, and causing the nanomaterial to adhere to the portion of the wall of the at least one channel. A fluid filtration system is also described. The filtration system includes a housing and a filter membrane. The housing may have a reservoir and a filter compartment. The filter membrane may have a channel extending therethrough. The channel may have a plurality of micropores along a wall thereof. The filter compartment may be configured to receive the filter membrane therein, the filter membrane configured to guide fluid thereacross to remove substances from the fluid or to modify substances in the fluid.

The present invention provides: a porous membrane comprising polytetrafluoroethylene and/or modified polytetrafluoroethylene, which has a small pore diameter, is difficult to break, and is resistant to an external force such as penetration and the like; and a manufacturing method of same. Further provided is a porous membrane comprising polytetrafluoroethylene and/or modified polytetrafluoroethylene, where the bubble point due to isopropyl alcohol in accordance with JIS K3832 is 500 kPa or more, a numerical value obtained by dividing the maximum force until a needle penetrates by the thickness of a test piece is 200 mN/m or more, based on a needle penetration strength test in accordance with JIS Z1707, the percentage of pore opening portions in a surface image by electron microscopy is 10 to 30%, and the fiber thickness is 250 nm or more.

In a method for preparing a nanofiber based oil-water separation and purification material having a shifted inclined-hole structure, firstly, a melt-spinning method is used for preparing a multi-layer fiber membrane, and then according to the requirements of the size, number and arrangement of holes on each layer of fiber membrane, a puncher is used for punching inclined frustum cone-shaped through holes on the fiber membrane. Finally, according to the requirements of relative positions of the inclined frustum cone-shaped through holes on fiber membranes in different layers, multiple layers of fiber membranes are composited to prepare a nanofiber based oil-water separation and purification material having a shifted inclined-hole structure. The oil-water separation and purification material is a multi-layer composite fiber membrane. Each layer of fiber membrane has a plurality of uniformly distributed inclined frustum cone-shaped through holes.