Systems and methods for oleophobic composite membranes

Abstract

Atomic layer deposition is utilized to deposit a coating on a membrane. The coated membrane exhibits a tightly bound hydration layer upon exposure to water. The resultant coated membrane is oleophobic.

Claims

1. A method of fabricating an oleophobic membrane comprising: providing a membrane comprising a bulk material selected from the group of hydrophobic materials consisting of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and a hydrophilic additive comprising polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) the membrane having a hydrophilic moiety exposed at a surface of at least a first side of the membrane, and depositing an oxide coating selected from the group consisting of SiO.sub.2, TiO.sub.2 or SnO.sub.2 on the surface of the first side of the membrane by atomic layer deposition by X cycles of the steps of: performing A atomic layer deposition subcycles of a first ALD precursor at a first deposition temperature, wherein the first ALD precursor binds with the hydrophilic moiety; and performing B atomic layer deposition subcycles of a second ALD precursor at a second deposition temperature; where X is greater than 0, A is greater than 0 and B is greater than 0; wherein a second side of the membrane, opposite the first side of the membrane, remains uncoated by the oxide coating.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first temperature and the second temperature are less than 150° C.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the coating comprises TiO.sub.2 and the first ALD precursor is titanium tetrachloride and wherein the second ALD precursor is water.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the coating comprises SnO.sub.2 and the first ALD precursor is tetrakis(dimethylamino) tin(IV) and wherein the second ALD precursor is water.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising exposing the coated membrane to liquid water and forming a hydration layer adjacent the oxide coating.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the membrane includes a plurality of pores and further wherein the oxide coating extends into the plurality of pores.

7. A method of fabricating an oleophobic membrane comprising: providing a membrane having a bulk hydrophobic polymer and a hydrophilic additive selected from the additive group consisting of polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP), polyethylene glycol (PEG), piperazine, cellulose acetate phthalate (CAP), or malic acid, the membrane having a first side and a second side, depositing an oxide coating directly on a first side of the membrane, binding with the hydrophilic additive, comprising an oxide selected from the group consisting of TiO.sub.2 and SnO.sub.2 by atomic layer deposition at a temperature less than 125° C. by the steps of: a) performing atomic layer deposition of a first ALD precursor at a first deposition temperature, wherein the first ALD precursor binds with the hydrophilic moiety; b) purging the first ALD precursor with an inert gas; c) performing atomic layer deposition of a second ALD precursor at a second deposition temperature; d) purging the second ALD precursor with an inert gas; and repeating steps a), b), c), and d) until the oxide coating is at least 1-20 nm thick; wherein a second side of the membrane, opposite the first side of the membrane, remains uncoated by the oxide coating.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the coating comprises TiO.sub.2 or SnO.sub.2.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the coating comprises TiO.sub.2 and the first ALD precursor is titanium tetrachloride and wherein the second ALD precursor is water.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the coating comprises SnO.sub.2 and the first ALD precursor is tetrakis(dimethylamino) tin(IV) and wherein the second ALD precursor is water.

11. The method of claim 7, further comprising exposing the coated membrane to liquid water and forming a hydration layer adjacent the oxide coating.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

(1) The foregoing and other features of the present disclosure will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only several implementations in accordance with the disclosure and are therefore, not to be considered limiting of its scope, the disclosure will be described with additional specificity and detail through use of the accompanying drawings.

(2) FIG. 1A shows SEM images of membranes coated with ZnO, Al.sub.2O.sub.3, TiO.sub.2 and SnO.sub.2, (left, center, right, respectively); FIG. 1B shows transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images of membranes coated with ZnO, Al.sub.2O.sub.3, TiO.sub.2 and SnO.sub.2, (left, center, right, respectively); FIG. 1C shows photomicrograph images next to energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) images of cross sections of membranes coated with ZnO, Al.sub.2O.sub.3, TiO.sub.2 and SnO.sub.2, (left, center, right, respectively).

(3) FIG. 2 is a graph of EDS spectra of nascent and oxide-coated membranes.

(4) FIG. 3 is a graph of X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra of nascent and oxide-coated membranes.

(5) FIGS. 4A-E are TEM images of the slices of membranes in low magnification: nascent (FIG. 4A), ZnO-coated (FIG. 4B), Al.sub.2O.sub.3-coated (FIG. 4C), TiO.sub.2-coated (FIG. 4D), and SnO.sub.2-coated membranes (FIG. 4E).

(6) FIG. 5A is a graph of crude oil contact angles (OCAs) on nascent and oxide-coated PVDF membranes under water. FIG. 5B is a graph of OCAs on oxide-coated silica wafers under water. FIGS. 5C and 5D show the results of a rude oil adhesion test on nascent (FIG. 5C) and SnO.sub.2-coated (FIG. 5D) membranes.

(7) FIG. 6A shows photographs of a demonstrative experiment of crude oil adhesion on nascent and oxide-coated PVDF membranes. FIG. 6B is an illustration of speculated mechanisms for crude oil adhesion on or departure from the membrane surfaces. FIG. 6C shows underwater OCAs on SnO.sub.2-coated membranes after long-term storage in air.

(8) FIGS. 7A-C show the results of an experiments for crude oil filtration. FIG. 7A shows the setup for filtration of 2 v/v % crude oil-in-water feed under stirring. FIG. 7B shows the feed and permeate. FIG. 7C is a graph of permeate flux evolution of nascent PVDF and SnO.sub.2-coated membranes.

(9) FIG. 8A shows three tested layers and their respective structure and relative anti-oil performance and wettability. FIG. 8B shows a graph of the radial distribution function as a function of distance between molecules demonstrating the underlying molecular dynamics for hydroxylated systems. FIG. 8C shows a graph of the radial distribution function as a function of distance between molecules demonstrating the underlying molecular dynamics for hydroxylated systems.

(10) Reference is made to the accompanying drawings throughout the following detailed description. In the drawings, similar symbols typically identify similar components, unless context dictates otherwise. The illustrative implementations described in the detailed description, drawings, and claims are not meant to be limiting. Other implementations may be utilized, and other changes may be made, without departing from the spirit or scope of the subject matter presented here. It will be readily understood that the aspects of the present disclosure, as generally described herein, and illustrated in the figures, can be arranged, substituted, combined, and designed in a wide variety of different configurations, all of which are explicitly contemplated and made part of this disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF VARIOUS EMBODIMENTS

(11) Embodiments described herein relate generally to oleophobic coated membranes. As further described herein the oleophobic coating may be applied by ALD.

(12) ALD provides a reliable technology to fabricate conformal coatings on material surfaces. ALD is a chemically diverse vapor-phase deposition technique with the capability to synthesize ultra-thin and pinhole-free films, for example oxide barriers, with well-defined surface chemical control and precise physical thickness. While ALD is essentially a chemical vapor deposition (CVD), it is unique in that it can allow very high control for deposition of extremely thin layers (e.g., less than 1 nm thick layers) on the substrate. One or more precursors, for example gaseous precursors are inserted sequentially into the ALD chamber. The precursors interact in the ALD chamber to layer-by-layer deposit a film, layer or otherwise coating (e.g., a metal oxide) on the substrate positioned in the ALD chamber over numerous insertion cycles. ALD enables layer-by-layer conformal growth. As described herein, the term “conformal” implies that the ALD deposited layer or coating conforms to the contours of structure on which it is deposited. In the case of a porous structure, the deposition occurs on the exposed surface, including within the pores (see, e.g., FIG. 1C). Sequential infiltration synthesis (SIS) is a related deposition technique, similar to ALD in the use of precursor cycles. However, SIS differs notably from ALD in how the materials deposited are located relative to the substrate, where ALD deposited on a surface while SIS deposits in the surface and/or within the bulk of the substrate.

(13) Using ALD, the coating thickness can be precisely tuned at the nanometer scale by adjusting deposition parameters. Described herein are oxide-coated membranes by ALD. Experiments of select oxide-coated membranes are provided to evaluate their anti-crude-oil performance. Notably, oxides from different element groups (i.e., ZnO, Al.sub.2O.sub.3, TiO.sub.2 and SnO.sub.2) exhibited vastly different crude oil repellence: ZnO- and Al.sub.2O.sub.3-coated membranes remained as adhesive to crude oil as nascent membranes, while TiO.sub.2- and SnO.sub.2-coated ones exhibited extraordinary low adhesion to crude oil both under water and in air after wetting by water. As further described herein, it is believed that the differences in anti-oil performance between different deposited oxides relates to the hydration state of the oxides, wherein embodiments described herein relate to oleophobic membranes derived from oxide coatings with a strong hydration state. A strong hydration state is one that forms a tightly bound hydration layer. A hydration layer is the water at the surface of the membrane. As described below in some compounds the hydration state may not be strong and the resultant hydration layer is not a continuous layer but rather partial and discontinuous. This water is bound, for example, by electrostatic attraction.

(14) FIG. 8A shows three tested layers and their respective structure and relative anti-oil performance and wettability. FIG. 8B shows a graph of the radial distribution function as a function of distance between molecules demonstrating the underlying molecular dynamics. The impact on the performance as an oleophobic material varies with wettability, with those materials having higher wettability being superior oleophobic membranes.

(15) The oleophobic membrane includes a membrane and a coating. The membrane may be a typical commercially available membranes in some embodiments. In one embodiment the membrane may be hydrophilic imparted by one or more hydrophilic moieties. At least a portion of the hydrophilic moieties are positioned at the surface of the membrane. The membrane may comprise material selected from an organic polymer, such as PVDF, PP, PE, PTFE, nylon, CA, PAN, PC, PEEK, PI, PS, or PES. For membrane materials comprising a polar moiety, ALD may be performed directly. For membrane materials without a polar moiety, such as PP, PE, and PTFE, pretreatment with a plasma or other processing to enable deposition without the traditional covalent binding of the polar moiety with the first ALD precursor is done. Further, the membrane may be a composite material consisting of bulk membrane material and an additive. Where the additive is hydrophilic, serving as the hydrophilic moiety of the membrane, such as polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP), polyethylene glycol (PEG), piperazine, cellulose acetate phthalate (CAP), or malic acid, the membrane bulk may comprise a hydrophobic material (such as PVDF, PP, or PE). Preferably, the membrane is reactive with the selected ALD precursors. For example, one or both of the membrane bulk or the additive may be reactive with the first ALD precursor as described below. In one embodiment, the membrane has a disk shape and a diameter of about 47 mm and a thickness of ˜50-100 microns. However, it should be appreciated that the size of the membrane may be scaled. Further, the porous network may vary, with the ALD parameters and pores being selected to at least allow the ALD reaction to occur within the pores by enabling diffusion of the precursors during ALD into the pores.

(16) In one embodiment, a coating is applied to the membrane, including within the pores. The coating may comprise TiO.sub.2, SnO.sub.2. HfO.sub.2, ZrO.sub.2, SiO.sub.2, or In.sub.2O.sub.3. In one embodiment, the coating is TiO.sub.2 or SnO.sub.2. The coating may be deposited on a portion of the coating, such as one side or a portion of one side or may be deposited on the outer surface such that both sides of the membrane include the coating. The coating may be conformal to the pores, i.e., extending into the pores and coating a sidewall of the pores. Where the pores or coated, they may be coated uniformly throughout or may have a gradient of thickness. In one embodiment, the coating has a thickness of about 1-20 nm (including all-inclusive ranges therein), such as about 10 nm.

(17) In one embodiment, as further described below regarding the ALD methods, the oxide coatings are achieved through the use of a metal ALD precursor (first ALD precursor) and an oxidizing precursor (second metal precursor). For embodiments having a TiO.sub.2 coating, the metal precursor may be titanium tetrachloride. For embodiments having a SnO.sub.2 coating, the metal precursor may be tetrakis(dimethylamino) tin(IV). In one embodiment, the oxidizing precursor maybe be selected from water, oxygen, ozone, hydrogen peroxide, and combinations thereof. In one embodiment, the coating comprises SiO.sub.2 and the first ALD precursor is (N,N-dimethylamino)trimethylsilane) (CH.sub.3).sub.3SiN(CH.sub.3).sub.2, vinyltrimethoxysilane CH.sub.2═CHSi(OCH.sub.3).sub.3, trivinylmethoxysilane (CH.sub.2═CH).sub.3SiOCH.sub.3, tetrakis(dimethylamino)silane Si(N(CH.sub.3).sub.2).sub.4, or tris(dimethylamino)silane (TDMAS) SiH(N(CH.sub.3).sub.2).sub.3.

(18) In one embodiment, a method of creating the oleophobic membrane, such as one shown in FIG. 1A, includes ALD deposition of the coating on the membrane. The membrane is positioned in an ALD reactor. The ALD reactor device includes a closed reaction chamber with the membrane positioned therein. As the membrane will typically be comprised of material with a low melting point, the ALD process in some embodiments occurs at a temperature below 170° C. and above 40° C. (including ranges there between), such as below 150° C., below 125° C., between 110° C. and 90° C., at about 80 to 100° C. (+/−2° C.).

(19) ALD proceeds with A subcycles (e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 cycles or any other suitable subcycles) of a first ALD precursor. In a first ALD precursor subcycle, the first ALD precursor is introduced for a first period of time. The first ALD precursor reacts with the membrane. Specifically, the first ALD precursor diffuses through the reaction chamber and interacts with the surface of the membrane. The first ALD precursor forms a first half-step structure bonded to the membrane. Where an additive has been included in the membrane together with membrane bulk, the first ALD precursor may preferentially bind with one or the other. A plurality of such half-step structure are bonded where the first ALD precursor was exposed to the membrane. Optionally a first inert gas is used to purge the first ALD precursor.

(20) ALD then proceeds with B subcycles (e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 cycles or any other suitable cycles) of a second ALD precursor. The second ALD precursor is introduced for a second period of time. The second ALD precursor reacts with the first half-step structure to form the coating. Optionally a second inert gas is used to purge the second ALD precursor.

(21) Exposure to the first ALD precursor and then exposure to the second ALD precursor constitute one cycle resulting in deposited oxide material. A cycle may utilize multiple subcycles of first ALD precursor exposure and/or multiple subcycles of second ALD precursor exposure. Subsequent first ALD exposures may result in the first ALD precursor bonding with the coating to form additional layers (by reaction with the second ALD precursor) where the membrane is no longer exposed. An ALD cycle may be repeated (e.g., 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 140, 180, 200 cycles or any other suitable cycles) to deposit a coating of desired thickness, for example at least a complete coating, i.e., not islands or seeds.

Examples

(22) As non-limiting examples, commercial PVDF membranes were selected as the bulk substrate for the membranes. The PVDF membranes included PVP embedded as a hydrophilic additive which introduces nucleating sites for the ALD process, which would otherwise be challenging on a largely unreactive PVDF substrate. Considering the low thermal stability of polymer membranes, the ALD temperature for all samples was 100° C., much lower than the melting point of PVDF (˜170° C.). For this reason, oxides that could form at low temperature with suitable precursors (Table 1) were selected (i.e., ZnO, Al.sub.2O.sub.3, TiO.sub.2 and SnO.sub.2). The number of ALD cycles was selected to achieve a comparable thickness (i.e., ˜10 nm) for each of the different oxide coatings.

(23) TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Example precursors for different oxides in ALD Oxide Precursor A Precursor B ALD cycles ZnO Diethyl zinc (DEZ) H.sub.2O 58 Al.sub.2O.sub.3 Trimethyl aluminum (TMA) H.sub.2O 77 TiO.sub.2 Titanium tetrachloride (TTC) H.sub.2O 100 SnO.sub.2 Tetrakis(dimethylamino) tin(IV) H.sub.2O 78 (TDMASn)

(24) ALD:

(25) PVDF microfiltration membrane (ϕ 47 mm, mean pore size 200 nm) was purchased from the MilliporeSigma (USA). The precursors, i.e., diethyl zinc (DEZ), trimethyl aluminum (TMA), titanium tetrachloride (TTC), tetrakis(dimethylamino) tin(IV) (TDMASn) were obtained from Sigma-Aldrich (USA). All the chemicals were used as received. ALD was conducted in a in a hot-walled, viscous flow reactor constructed by a circular stainless-steel tube with an internal diameter of 5 cm. All the experiments were performed at 100° C. and the carrier gas is ultrahigh pure (99.999%) nitrogen. The growth rate of oxides was achieved by detecting the thickness of oxide layers on a silica wafer using an ellipsometer. A long dose (5 s) and purge time (40 s) was applied to allow the diffusion of precursors through the entire membrane.

(26) Characterization:

(27) The surface morphologies of membranes were observed by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). All the samples were coated with carbon layers to improve their conductivity. The surface hydrophilicity as well as the underwater oleophobicity was evaluated by water contact angle test system Kruss Drop Shape Analysis System.

(28) Surface morphology has a significant impact on surface wettability according to the Cassie-Baxter and Wenzel models. The surface structure of nascent and oxide-coated membranes by FE-SEM were as shown in FIG. 1A. The initial PVDF membrane is a commercial product fabricated by phase inversion. These membranes have an irregular and bicontinuous porous structure with smooth solid surfaces. As mentioned above, PVP was embedded in the membrane as a hydrophilic additive, and its polar moieties could interact with vapor-phase precursors for nucleation during ALD. Compared with the nascent membranes, the Al.sub.2O.sub.3- and SnO.sub.2-coated membranes show no obvious changes in surface morphology, while significant increase in surface roughness can be observed on TiO.sub.2- and ZnO-coated membranes, attributed to the different nucleation processes on the membrane surface. All deposited oxides are amorphous except ZnO (FIG. 3) where the crystalline nature of the ZnO can be seen. If solely considering the surface structure, ZnO and TiO.sub.2 would be expected to have superior anti-oil property because the micro-nano composite structure could minimize the direct contact area between oil and membrane and promote surface oleophobicity under water. The TEM images of the membrane slices demonstrate that a uniform and conformal coating formed on membrane surface for all the oxides (FIG. 1B), and the EDS spectra of membrane cross-sections also indicate a uniform distribution of oxide across the entire membrane (FIG. 1C).

(29) To evaluate the surface wettability of membranes, the water contact angles (WCAs) and underwater OCAs were detected on each membrane surface. Because of the existence of PVP additive, the nascent membranes are moderately hydrophilic and a water drop can gradually penetrate through due to the capillary effect of the porous structure. The membrane surface became substantially more hydrophilic following ALD treatment. Water drops permeate through the membranes far more rapidly after coating with TiO.sub.2 or SnO.sub.2. However, water droplets permeate more rapidly (compared to nascent) for ZnO or Al.sub.2O.sub.3 but less than TiO.sub.2 or SnO.sub.2 coated. The hydrophilicity is closely related to the underwater oleophobicity. The underwater OCAs were detected by using crude oils with low and high viscosity (FIG. 2A). All the membranes, including the nascent one, are oleophobic underwater because of their hydrophilicity (or high surface energy) in air. Crude oils are sticky to the nascent, ZnO-coated, and Al.sub.2O.sub.3-coated membranes. The nascent membrane shows an OCA of 124.8±3.5°, and the ZnO- and Al.sub.2O.sub.3-coated membranes perform similarly or even less oleophobic (OCAs of 104.4±3.4° and 123.5±2.2°, respectively). In contrast, both TiO.sub.2- and SnO.sub.2-coated membranes show an OCA above 160°, indicating the superoleophobicity of their surfaces. In general a superoleophobic surface can reduce the contact area between surface and oil to lower oil adhesion. It is believed that an OCA of approximately 140° for is necessary for superoleophobicity in a porous surface and 100° is necessary for superoleophobicity for a flat surface. To separate the influences of membrane structure on OCAs, we also measured the underwater OCAs on silica wafers coated with the same oxides (FIG. 2B). The underwater OCAs on flat surfaces decrease significantly, and follow an order of SnO.sub.2>TiO.sub.2>Al.sub.2O.sub.3>ZnO. Specifically, the OCA on ZnO surface decreases to 54.9±2.7°, lying in the oleophilic region, while TiO.sub.2 and SnO.sub.2 surfaces remain oleophobic with an OCA of 115.8±4.3° and 119.2±6.9°, respectively. It is believed that, due to the membrane surface comprising of polymer skeleton and pores the oil contacts with both oxide surface and water (in pores). This can further decrease the contact area. In the case of silica, all the contact regions are oil/oxide interfaces.

(30) As show in FIG. 2B, the underwater adhesion work was also calculated, based on the following equation: W=γ(1+cos θ), in which γ is the interfacial tension between crude oil and water, and θ is the underwater OCA on the surface. The SnO.sub.2 surface shows the lowest adhesion work of 17.64±2.90 mJ/m.sup.2 as expected. These results indicate the intrinsic hydrophilicity (or hydration state) of oxides represents a larger contribution to the surface oleophobicity underwater relative to surface roughness. In another experiment, an extremely sticky crude oil was applied for a dynamic adhesion test. No adhesion or deformation was observed when the oil droplet was pushed toward or pull away from the SnO.sub.2-coated membrane in water.

(31) Wetting and adhesion of crude oil on a surface are closely related to the surrounding environment. A hydrophilic surface always has oleophobicity in water but oleophilicity in air. Therefore, we investigated the crude oil adhesion on membrane surfaces both under water and in air. In the first experiment, the membranes were fouled by high-viscosity crude oil in air and then immersed in water (FIG. 3A). Membranes were prewetted by water before contacting crude oil, because the anti-oil property arises from the hydration layer. Crude oil stayed on nascent and ZnO-coated membranes without obvious change after immersing in water, while it departed readily from the surface in the case of TiO.sub.2- and SnO.sub.2-coated membranes. For the Al.sub.2O.sub.3-coated membrane, crude oil deformed to a sphere with a large OCA but remained on the membrane surface. This is a result of the balance among buoyancy, surface tension, and adhesion force in an aqueous environment. A speculated mechanism is depicted in FIG. 3B. In the case of nascent and ZnO-coated membranes, the hydration layer is unstable, which therefore cannot prevent contact between crude oil and the membrane surface in air. When immersing membranes in water, water molecules cannot insert themselves between the adhered crude oil and the membrane surface. On the other hand, the hydration layer is tightly bonded on TiO.sub.2 and SnO.sub.2 surfaces, which forbids direct contact between oil and surface, and crude oil easily detaches from the surface due to the ultra-low adhesion and buoyancy of oil. For the Al.sub.2O.sub.3-coated membrane, the surface is partially hydrated when contacting crude oil, resulting in moderate oil adhesion. To exclude buoyancy itself as a major reason underlying the anti-oil property, we conducted another experiment to rinse the crude-oil-fouled membrane by water in air instead of immersing them in water. As shown in FIG. 3A, crude oil on TiO.sub.2 and SnO.sub.2-coated membranes was easily washed off whereas it stayed insistently on nascent, ZnO-coated, and Al.sub.2O.sub.3-coated membranes. Stability of anti-oil properties during long-term storage is another important issue for these membranes. Surfaces modified by hydrophilic polymers always suffer from hydrophobicity recovery during storage due to chain rearrangement to minimize the surface energy in air. In contrast, oxide-coated membranes shows stable superoleophobicity after long-term (three-month) storage in air because of their rigid hydrophilic groups.

(32) Because of its excellent anti-oil properties, SnO.sub.2-coated membranes were applied in practical oily wastewater filtration experiments. Flux evolution over time will reflect the degree of fouling on the membrane surface. For comparison the flux of nascent membranes was also determined (FIG. 4). The concentration of crude oil in water is 2 v/v %, and vigorous stirring was applied to simulate the dynamic filtration process. Both types of membranes exhibited similar initial flux of ˜700 Lm.sup.−2h.sup.−1bar.sup.−1. The permeate flux of the nascent membrane, however, decreased sharply to ˜50 Lm.sup.−2h.sup.−1bar.sup.−1 due to severe membrane fouling. In contrast, the SnO.sub.2-coated membrane showed slower and less pronounced decrease in permeate flux, and even this moderate decrease is likely attributable to pore blocking during dead-filtration rather than fouling per se. Moreover, no flux recovery was observed for the nascent membrane upon cleaning, while the flux was nearly completely recovered for the SnO.sub.2-coated membrane after the first rinsing by water. The flux of the SnO.sub.2-coated membrane eventually decreased irreversibly after several cycles, but its flux was still much higher than that of the nascent one after a similar period, indicating substantial improvement in anti-crude-oil performance.

Definitions

(33) As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, the term “a member” is intended to mean a single member or a combination of members, “a material” is intended to mean one or more materials, or a combination thereof.

(34) As used herein, the terms “about” and “approximately” generally mean plus or minus 10% of the stated value. For example, about 0.5 would include 0.45 and 0.55, about 10 would include 9 to 11, about 1000 would include 900 to 1100.

(35) It should be noted that the term “exemplary” as used herein to describe various embodiments is intended to indicate that such embodiments are possible examples, representations, and/or illustrations of possible embodiments (and such term is not intended to connote that such embodiments are necessarily extraordinary or superlative examples).

(36) The terms “coupled,” “connected,” and the like as used herein mean the joining of two members directly or indirectly to one another. Such joining may be stationary (e.g., permanent) or moveable (e.g., removable or releasable). Such joining may be achieved with the two members or the two members and any additional intermediate members being integrally formed as a single unitary body with one another or with the two members or the two members and any additional intermediate members being attached to one another.

(37) It is important to note that the construction and arrangement of the various exemplary embodiments are illustrative only. Although only a few embodiments have been described in detail in this disclosure, those skilled in the art who review this disclosure will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible (e.g., variations in sizes, dimensions, structures, shapes and proportions of the various elements, values of parameters, mounting arrangements, use of materials, colors, orientations, etc.) without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of the subject matter described herein. Other substitutions, modifications, changes and omissions may also be made in the design, operating conditions and arrangement of the various exemplary embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention.

(38) While this specification contains many specific implementation details, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of any inventions or of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions of features specific to particular implementations of particular inventions. Certain features described in this specification in the context of separate implementations can also be implemented in combination in a single implementation. Conversely, various features described in the context of a single implementation can also be implemented in multiple implementations separately or in any suitable subcombination. Moreover, although features may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or variation of a subcombination.