A membrane is described for purifying or separating hydrogen from a multi-component gas stream such as syngas. This membrane uses a molecular pre-treatment, a transition metal, fluorine containing polymer, carbon fibers and carbon matrix sintered on a supportive screen. The membrane may be a bilayer membrane comprised of a layer containing high surface area carbon and another layer containing lower surface area carbon. Methods for purifying hydrogen are also described.

A membrane is described for purifying or separating hydrogen from a multi-component gas stream such as syngas. This membrane uses a molecular pre-treatment, a transition metal, fluorine containing polymer, carbon fibers and carbon matrix sintered on a supportive screen. The membrane may be a bilayer membrane comprised of a layer containing high surface area carbon and another layer containing lower surface area carbon. Methods for purifying hydrogen are also described.

The present invention relates to a method for producing a porous membrane, the method being characterized in that a solvent system comprising 2-pyrrolidone and N-alkyl-2-pyrrolidone is used, wherein the content ratio of 2-pyrrolidone to N-alkyl-2-pyrrolidone in the solvent system is from 90%:10% to 10%:90%, based on mass %, and wherein N-alkyl-2-pyrrolidone is N-propyl-2-pyrrolidone and/or N-butyl-2-pyrrolidone. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a porous membrane obtainable by said method. Moreover, the present invention relates to the use of a specific solvent system for the production of a porous membrane.

The invention relates to a highly aligned and closely packed electrospun fiber assembly, wherein the fibers have at least an extension part or pore on the surface thereof. The invention also relates to a microtube array membrane (MTAM), comprising fiber assembly of the present disclosure. The invention also relates to the applications of these electrospun fiber assemblies in biological applications, and method of manufacturing these electrospun fiber assemblies.

The present invention relates to a process for the production of asymmetric cellulose hollow fibres and the use of such fibres in the production of asymmetric carbon hollow fibre membranes (CHFMs). In particular, the present invention provides a facile and scalable process for the preparation of asymmetric CHFMs by direct pyrolysis of polymeric precursors without the need for complex pre-pyrolysis treatment steps to prevent pore collapse. The present invention also relates to the use of asymmetric CHFMs prepared according to said process in the separation of hydrogen gas from a mixed gas source, especially in the separation of hydrogen from CO.sub.2 in the steam-methane reforming reaction.

The present invention provides enthalpy exchanger elements (E, E′) and enthalpy exchangers comprising such elements. Furthermore, the invention discloses a method for producing such enthalpy exchanger elements and enthalpy exchangers, comprising the steps of a) providing an air-permeable sheet element (1); b) laminating at least one side (1a, 1b) of the sheet element (1) with a thin polymer film (3, 4) with water vapor transmission characteristics; and c) forming the laminated sheet element (1) into a desired shape exhibiting a three-dimensional corrugation pattern (5, 5, . . . ).

The invention relates to a method for a fabrication of a pore comprising membrane and a pore comprising membrane. The pore comprising membrane (1) comprises at least a porous metallic layer (3) on a porous substrate (6), wherein the porous metallic layer (3) is connected to the porous substrate (6) and the pores (4) of the metallic layer (3) overlap at least partially with the pores (7) of the porous substrate (6). The method comprises at least the following steps: i) deposition of the metallic layer (3) onto a support material (2), wherein the deposited metallic layer (3) forms a plurality of feedthroughs, in particular a percolation network on the support material (2), ii) removal of the support material (2), iii) connecting of the metallic layer (3) with the porous substrate (6) such that pores (4) of the metallic layer (3) overlap at least partially with the pores (7) of the porous substrate (6).

A hollow fiber porous membrane includes polyethersulfone or polysulfone. The hollow fiber porous membrane has an inner diameter from 300 to 600 μm, a thickness from 70 to 200 μm, a molecular weight cut-off of 10000 or lower, and a plurality of pores having a pore diameter from 0.1 to 0.5 μm throughout an outer surface; and a swelling rate of less than 5% as defined below: Swelling Rate (%): for 20 or more of the hollow fiber porous membranes, after a membrane thickness in a cross section of each one of the hollow fiber porous membranes in the width direction is measured at randomly selected 10 or more locations, an average membrane thickness is calculated based on 200 or more locations in total, and the swelling rate is calculated by a formula below: Swelling Rate (%)=(location numbers where the membrane thickness as measured exceeded 1.3 times the average membrane thickness)/(membrane thickness measurement numbers)×100.

The present invention provides a nonwoven fabric for a separation membrane which can prevent a bleed-through of a resin solution used for coating in a step of producing the separation membrane, can produce a separation membrane having a large permeate flux of a liquid by non-solvent induced phase separation, has high adhesiveness between a coating membrane and the nonwoven fabric, and can make the coating membrane thin, and a method of producing the same. In an exemplary aspect of the present invention, a two-layer nonwoven fabric 10 for a separation membrane is configured to have a surface layer 11 and a back surface layer 12, a coating surface of a coating solution during membrane formation is a surface 11a of the surface layer 11, and, when the nonwoven fabric 10 is impregnated with the coating solution for membrane formation, the surface layer 11 has a large Laplace force and the back surface layer 12 has a small Laplace force. The nonwoven fabric 10 for a separation membrane can be produced by sequentially papermaking a fiber dispersion liquid DS1 for a surface layer including one or more kinds of fine fibers FF having a small fiber diameter and one or more kinds of thick fibers TF having a fiber diameter larger than that of the fine fibers FF and a fiber dispersion liquid DS2 for a back surface layer consisting of the thick fibers TF using a wet papermaking method.

A separation membrane complex includes a support, a separation membrane, and a coating membrane. The support includes a porous portion and a dense portion that are arranged continuously. The separation membrane is provided on the porous portion of the support. The separation membrane has an end portion that is in contact with the dense portion. The coating membrane is composed by a layered inorganic compound. The coating membrane coats a boundary portion between the dense portion and the separation membrane.