NANOPOROUS POLYMER MEMBRANES AND METHODS OF PRODUCTION

Abstract

An ultrafiltration membrane comprising: (i) a first polymer, and (ii) a second, charged polymer wherein the first polymer and second polymer have different hydrophobicities.

Claims

1. An ultrafiltration membrane comprising: (i) a first polymer, and (ii) a second, charged polymer wherein the first polymer and second polymer have different hydrophobicities.

2. The ultrafiltration membrane according to claim 1 having a charge density gradient.

3. The ultrafiltration membrane according to claim 1 having a hydrophilicity gradient.

4. The ultrafiltration membrane according to claim 1 wherein the first polymer is chosen from the group comprising polysulphone, polyethersulphone, polyacrylonitrile, cellulose acetate or poly(vinylidene fluoride).

5. The ultrafiltration membrane according to claim 1 wherein the second polymer is chosen from quaternary phosphonium polymers.

6. The ultrafiltration membrane according to claim 1 wherein the second polymer is chosen from the group comprising diphenyl(3-methyl-4-methoxyphenyl) tertiary sulphonium functionalized polysulphone, tris(2,4,6-trimethoxyphenyl) quaternary phosphonium-substituted bromomethylated poly(phenylene oxide), sulphonated poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) and tris(2,4,6-trimethoxyphenyl)polysulphone-methylene quaternary phosphonium chloride.

7. The ultrafiltration membrane according to claim 1 having a water permeability between 0.46 and 20.00 L/m.sup.2 h kPa, more preferably between 10.00 and 16.00 L/m.sup.2 h kPa

8. The ultrafiltration membrane according to claim 1 having water flux of between 25 and 2000 Lm.sup.2 h.sup.1 at a testing pressure of 100 kPa, preferably between 1,000 and 1,500 Lm.sup.2 h.sup.1 at a testing pressure of 100 kPa.

9. An ultrafiltration membrane according to claim 1.

10. A method of preparing the ultrafiltration membrane of claim 1 including the step of combining the first polymer with the second charged polymer.

11. The method according to claim 10 including the step of phase inversion.

12. The method according to claim 10 wherein the first polymer is combined with the second polymer and a solvent to form a solution, wherein the total polymer concentration in the solution is between 12 and 20 wt %.

13. The method according to claim 10 wherein the first polymer is combined with the second polymer and a solvent to form a solution, wherein the amount of second polymer is up to 60 wt % of the total amount of polymer in solution.

14. The method according to claim 10 wherein the solvent is chosen from N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone, dimethylformamide, or mixtures thereof.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0062] The present invention may be better understood by those skilled in the relevant art by reference to the following description of embodiments and the accompanying drawings, which are illustrations only and do not limit the disclosure herein:

[0063] FIG. 1 illustrates the following:

[0064] FIG. 1aMolecular structure of tris(2,4,6-trimethoxyphenyl)polysulphone-methylene quaternary phosphonium chloride (TPQP-Cl);

[0065] FIG. 1bMolecular structure of polyether sulphone (PES);

[0066] FIG. 1cSchematic illustration of the formation of nanoporous polymer membranes in the phase inversion process: the solvent diffuses out of the cast polymer solution (1) comprising PES and TPQP-Cl into the non-solvent water (5) as indicated by the arrows while the non-solvent water (5) diffuses into the polymer solution (1) as indicated by the green arrows. This rapid exchange process leads to precipitation of PES and TPQP-Cl; the TPQP-Cl content increasing from the top surface to the bottom surface of the resulting membrane;

[0067] FIG. 1d(i)Cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image of a PES/TPQP-Cl composite membrane with 20% TPQP-Cl prepared from 15% PES/TPQP-Cl solution (denoted 15% PES/TPQP-Cl 8/2); FIG. 1d(ii) is a cross-sectional SEM image of PES ultrafiltration membrane;

[0068] FIG. 1eSEM image of active surface, showing a nanoporous structure; and

[0069] FIG. 1fSEM image of bottom surface of the membrane.

[0070] FIG. 2 illustrates the following:

[0071] FIG. 2ais a graph of contact angle (o) against the percentage of TPQP-Cl added to the polymer, for the bottom layer (8) and the active layer (10) of a dried membrane according to the present invention;

[0072] FIG. 2bis a graph of actual TPQP-Cl content (determined by XPS) of the active layer (12) and bottom layer (15) of dried 15% PES membrane and 15% PES-TPQP-Cl membranes with different amounts of TPQP-Cl. The PES/TPQP-Cl membranes with a mass ratio of 9:1, 8:2, and 7:3 were prepared from a 15% polymer solution and denoted 15% PES, 15% PES/TPQP-Cl 9/1, 15% PES/TPQP-Cl 8/2, and 15% PES/TPQP-Cl 7/3, respectively.

[0073] FIG. 2cSchematic illustration of the hydrophobicity-hydrophilicity transition before and after hydration of charged groups of the PES/TPQP-Cl composite membrane, and contact angle change for the 15% PES/TPQP-Cl 8/2 membrane before hydration (16) and after hydration (18). The porous structure of the membrane is simplified as individual conical shaped channels between the active layer (20) and the bottom layer (22) of the membrane. The degree of hydrophilicity decreases from active layer to bottom layer in the dehydrated membrane; the opposite trend is seen in the hydrated membrane, which is more hydrophobic at the active layer. The inner surface of the channels is lined by the polysulphone backbone (24) in TPQP-Cl while the quaternary phosphonium group (26) of the TPQP-Cl projects to the inside of the channel. The quaternary phosphonium groups (26) of the hydrated membrane are effectively solvated (29) with water molecules.

[0074] FIG. 3 illustrates the following:

[0075] FIG. 3aillustrates water permeability and molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) of various polyethersulphone ultrafiltration membranes of the prior art and according to the present invention. The pore size of membrane was determined by molecular weight cut-off measurements. The following data on polymer membranes from recent literature are also included: 15% PES with 10% Pluronic F127 (31) (Susanto H & Ulbricht M, J. Membr.Sci 327, 125 (2009)), 16% PES with 2% polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) or 2% PVP and 5% 2-hydroxyethylmethacrylate (32) (Rahimpour A & Madaeni S S, J. Membr. Sci. 360, 371 (2010), 15% polysulphone-poly(ethylene oxide) random copolymer with 5% PVP (33) (Cho et al, J. Membr. Sci 379, 296 (2011)), 18% polysulphone (PSf), and 18% PSf with different additives (34) (Hoek et al, Delasination 283, 89 (2011)), commercial PES membranes and modified membranes (35) (Peeva et al, J. Membrane Sci 390, 99 (2012); polyacrylonitrile (36) (Boerlage et al, J. Membrane Sci 1971 (2002)), cellulose acetate-aminated poly(ether imide) (37) (Arockiasamy et al, Int. J. Polym. Mater. 57, 997 (2008)), and cellulose acetate-sulfonated polyetherimide (38) (Nagendran et al, Soft. Mater. 6, 45 (2008)), and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)-co-hexafluoropropylene and modified PVDF membranes (39) (Wongchitphimon et al, J. Membrane Sci 369, 329 (2011)) and PES (40). The membranes according to the present invention were 15% PES/TPQP-Cl 8/2 (42), 16% PES/TPQP-Ci 8/2 (44), 15% PES/TPQP-Cl 7/3 (46), 13% PES/TPQP-Cl 8/2 (48) and 15% PES/TPQP-Cl 9/1 (50).

[0076] FIG. 3bPolyethylene glycol (PEG) molecular weight cut off curves of 15% PES and the following PES/TPQP-Cl membranes according to this invention: 15% PES (52), 15% PES/TPQP-Cl 9/1 (54), 15% PES/TPQP-Cl 8/2 (56), 15% PES/TPQP-Cl 7/3 (58), 16% PES/TPQP-Cl 8/2 (60), 18% PES/TPQP-Cl 8/2 (62).

[0077] FIG. 4 includes schematic representations of the cross-sections of ultrafiltration membranes as follows:

[0078] FIG. 4aasymmetrically porous structure of a typical ultrafiltration membrane of the prior art;

[0079] FIGS. 4b to 4fexisting membrane structures including non-charged membrane (FIG. 4b), positively charged membrane surface (FIG. 4c), negatively charged membrane surface (FIG. 4d), uniformly distributed positive charge (FIG. 4e), and uniformly distributed negative charge (FIG. 4f);

[0080] FIGS. 4g to 4jstructures of ultrafiltration membranes according to the present invention having gradient charge distribution and gradient hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity.

[0081] FIG. 5 illustrates the results of contact angle testing of membranes constructed of polyethersulphone (FIG. 5a) and tris(2,4,6-trimethoxyphenyl)polysulphone-methylene quaternary phosphonium chloride (FIG. 5b).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0082] The present invention provides nanoporous polymer membranes that can provide fast water transport by creation of a hydrophilicity gradient coupled and/or a charge density gradient. The membrane may be manufactured using conventional techniques such as a phase inversion process.

[0083] The enhancements in water transport rates associated with the membranes of the present invention over continuum flow model predictions are very close to those observed in carbon nanotubes. The membranes are produced by incorporating a hydrophobic and charged polymer in the membrane fabrication process. In particular, tris(2,4,6-trimethoxyphenyl)polysulphone-methylene quaternary phosphonium chloride (TPQP-Cl) with an intrinsic contact angle of 94 (measured from dense TPQP-Cl films) is chosen as an additive in the preparation of polyethersulphone (PES) membranes (PES has an intrinsic contact angle of 79, measured from dense PES films) (FIG. 5a, FIG. 5b). Because TPQP-Cl is more hydrophobic than PES, it migrates to the substrate due to the difference in the de-mixing rate during the phase inversion process, leading to an increase in TPQP-Cl content from the top active layer to the bottom supporting layer (FIG. 2c).

[0084] Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images show that the PES/TPQP-Cl membrane exhibits a typical asymmetrical microstructure with a thin active skin layer and a finger-like macroporous supporting layer (FIG. 1d(i) & (ii), FIG. 1e).

[0085] The water contact angle of dried PES and PES/TPQP-Cl membranes is illustrated graphically in FIG. 2a. The PES and PES/TPQP-Cl membranes with different PES/TPQP-Cl mass ratios (9:1, 8:2, and 7/3) prepared from 15% polymer solutions were denoted 15% PES, 15% PES/TPQP-Cl 9/1, 15% PES/TPQP-Cl 8/2, and 15% PES/TPQP-Cl 7/3, respectively.

[0086] The contact angle of the active layer remains almost the same at different TPQP-Cl loadings whereas the contact angle of the bottom surface increases significantly from 60 to 90 when the TPQP-Cl/PES ratio increases to 2:8, and then slightly decreases to 84 at a 30 wt % TPQP-Cl loading. The small decrease in contact angle of the bottom surface from 15% PES/TPQP-Cl 8/2 to 15% PES/TPQP-Cl 7/3 can be explained by the fact that the former has a somewhat rougher bottom surface than the latter.

[0087] The TPQP-Cl concentration gradient across the dry membrane cross section is confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) (FIG. 2b). Note that the elemental composition obtained from XPS is the average value within a few microns thickness from the surface due to the effect of X-ray penetration. Interestingly, as compared with conventional membranes, a reverse hydrophilicity gradient (the bottom supporting layer is more hydrophilic than the active layer) is ultimately produced due to hydration of charged groups of TPQP-Cl.

[0088] The contact angle data shown in FIG. 2c demonstrate that the hydrophobicity-hydrophilicity transition occurs in PES/TPQP-Cl composite membranes with a gradient distribution of TPQP-Cl inverting between the dry state and wet state. The wetability of the active layer does not change much before and after hydration. However, in wet PES/TPQP-Cl membranes, the bottom surface becomes much more hydrophilic, clearly indicating a hydrophilicity gradient (coupled with a charge density gradient) from the active layer to the bottom supporting layer. By contrast, the contact angle of active layer of wet 15% PES control membrane is 58.5, which is close to that of its bottom surface (59.3), confirming that there is no wetability gradient present in the membrane.

[0089] The water permeability, and pore size of the PES and PES/TPQP-Cl membranes studied in this work are presented in FIG. 3a. The polyethylene glycol (PEG) molecular weight cut off (MWCO) curves of these membranes are shown in FIG. 3b, and the MWCO at 90% rejection rate was used to calculate the pore size of the membrane. Without any additive, 15% PES control membranes have a water permeability of 0.46 L/m.sup.2 h kPa. All membranes with TPQP-Cl (15% PES/TPQP-Cl) show remarkably higher water permeability than 15% PES membrane; and 15% PES/TPQP-Cl 8/2 membrane exhibits the highest water permeability (14.6 L/m.sup.2 h kPa), which is 32 times higher than that of 15% PES membrane. PES/TPQP-Cl membranes prepared from different concentrations of polymer casting solutions show different permeation properties.

[0090] Comparison of the water permeability and the pore size of skin layer for the membranes prepared from casting solutions with 16% and 18% and a fixed PES/TPQP-Cl mass ratio of 8:2 (denoted 16% PES/TQPQ-Cl 8/2 and 18% PES/TPQP-Cl) are shown in FIG. 3a. With increasing polymer concentration, the pore size of skin layer slightly decreases (Table 1) while the pore size and porosity of the bottom layer (surface) decreases more significantly based on SEM observations. The water permeability drops only 2% when the polymer concentration increases from 15% to 16%, but it decreases by 41% when the polymer concentration rises from 16% to 18%. It is noted that a dense skin layer was formed from 18 wt % PES casting solution, and this PES membrane was impermeable to water at a testing pressure of 450 kPa.

[0091] As shown in FIG. 3b, the PES/TPQP-Cl membranes have narrow MWCOs, and maintain excellent separation properties at high water permeabilities. For comparison, the water permeability versus pore size of typical polymer ultrafiltration membranes recently reported in the literature is included in FIG. 3a. It is clear that the water permeabilities of PES/TPQP-Cl membranes greatly exceed other membranes with similar pore sizes.

[0092] The measured water fluxes are 35 to 57 times higher than those of the no-slip hydrodynamic flows from the Hagen-Poiseuille model. The enhancement can be explained in terms of slip length, which is an extrapolation of the extra pore radius required to give zero velocity at a hypothetical pore wall (the boundary condition for Hagen-Poiseuille flow). The estimated minimum slip lengths are summarized in Table 1 which records comparisons of experimental water fluxes with continuum flow model predictions. Values for carbon nanotubes and polycarbonate membranes from Han et al (J. Membrane Sci, 2010 358(1-2) p. 142-149) are included as a reference. Pore diameters were calculated from PEG molecular weight cut-off values at 90% rejection rate (FIG. 3b). Pore density values were determined by counting the number of pores on 2.5 m2.0 m high resolution SEM images of the active surfaces of membranes.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 En- hancement Mini- Pore Thick- over non- mum Pore number ness of slip, hydro- slip size density active dynamic length Sample (nm) (cm.sup.2) layer flow (nm) 15% PES 14.3 3.6 10.sup.9 500 nm 2.4 3.0 15% PES/ 15.7 .sup.~1.0 10.sup.10 36 69 TPQP- CI 9/1 15% PES/ 19.2 42 99 TPQP- CI 8/2 15% PES/ 19.2 27 62 TPQP- CI 7/3 16% PES/ 16.5 57 117 TPQP- CI 8/2 18% PES/ 16.1 35 67 TPQP- CI 8/2 Double-walled 1.3 to 0.25 10.sup.12 2 m 560 to 140 to carbon 2.0 8400 1400 nanotubes Polycarbonate 15 .sup.6 10.sup.8 6 m 2.1 5.1

[0093] As TPQP-Cl content varies from 10 to 30%, the slip length varies from 62 to 117 nm. In contrast, the PES control membrane has a slip length of 3.0 nm, which is comparable with the polycarbonate membrane with a pore size of 15 nm. Surprisingly, the slip lengths of our PES/TPQP-Cl membranes are very close to those of double-walled carbon nanotube membranes (Table 1), which are well recognized nanochannels with enhanced water permeability. Molecular dynamic modelling revealed that increasing nanotube diameter leads to a reduction in slip length, and the slip length for a carbon nanotube with a pore diameter of around 20nm is 54-67 nm, which is comparable with polymer membranes of the present invention.

[0094] The extensive molecular dynamic (MD) studies on CNT membranes have identified that the atomically smooth solid walls and the hydrophobic nature of CNTs are the key factors for the large slip length. But it is highly unlikely that our hydrophilic polymer nanopores would have a similar smoothness to CNTs, although the tortuous pores may exhibit a certain degree of smoothness locally arising from the arrangement of hydrated aromatic quaternary phosphonium groups on TPQP-Cl. Therefore, it seems that the pore surface smoothness is not responsible for the high water permeability in our experiments.

[0095] Positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) results show the addition of TPQP-Cl does not affect the -sized free volumes of these polyethersulphone membranes. High water flux should only occur in the nanoporous channels (14-20 nm in diameter) of the membranes. In addition, the small increase in the pore size and pore density of the active layer and the moderate increase in the porosity of supporting layer may also contribute to enhanced water flux.

[0096] A hydrodynamic model of a flow in a cone to describe the water transport in membranes of the present invention. The changes in pore size, pore number density, and thickness of the membranes only resulted in up to 5.8 times enhancement in water flux through the PES/TPQP-Cl membrane, which is far smaller than the observed 32 times enhancement. Therefore the change of membrane microstructure only plays a minor role in promoting water permeation through our PES/TPQP-Cl membranes.

[0097] The fast water transport through the PES/TPQP-Cl membranes can be mainly attributed to the unique combination of pore surface wettability gradient and charge density gradient. To examine the effect of surface charge, an electrolyte solution was used to electrostatically shield the pore surface charge in the filtration process. The flux of 1 M NaCl aqueous solution through 15% PES/TPQP-Cl 8/2 membrane was found to be around 50% lower than the pure water flux; whereas the flux of 1 M NaCl aqueous solution through 15% PES control membrane was similar to the pure water flux.

[0098] This observation strongly suggests that the shielding effect caused by the accumulated Na.sup.+ and Cl.sup. ions on the charged pore surfaces leads to a large increase in the water flow resistance. Therefore, this experimental result demonstrates that the surface charge gradient plays a crucial role in the remarkably high water permeability observed for the PES/TPQP-Cl membranes. In addition, the hydrophilicity gradient in the membranes of the present invention should also contribute to the enhanced water flow by promoting directional water movement.

[0099] The membrane of the present invention and its characterising properties can also be described with reference to FIG. 4. FIG. 4 shows asymmetrically porous structures of a typical ultrafiltration membrane, existing membranes with non-charged porous structure and uniform charge distribution, as compared with membranes according to the present invention which have gradient charge distribution and gradient hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity.

[0100] In membranes of the prior art either positive charge or negative charge is uniformly distributed on the membrane surface or throughout the membrane (FIGS. 4b to 4f).

[0101] By contrast, the membrane structure of membranes according to the present invention (FIGS. 4g to 4j), both the charge and hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity exhibit gradient distribution from the skin layer towards the bottom layer. Without wishing to be bound by theory it is believed that because of these unique structures, the ultrafiltration membranes of the present invention show extraordinarily high water flux.

PREPARATIVE EXAMPLE

[0102] Ultrafiltration membranes according to the present invention were prepared by phase inversion. Quaternary-phosphonium polymer (FIG. 1a) (at least 40 wt % of total polymers) and polyethersulphone (FIG. 2b) (up to 60 wt % of total polymers) was dissolved in DMF with stirring. The resulting polymer solutions without air bubbles were cast using a micrometer film applicator onto a clean glass plate to a thickness of 100 to 500 micron.

[0103] The membrane was produced in a coagulation bath filled with double deionised water or other solvents, followed by washing in double deionised water. The resulting membranes were soaked in deionised water for future use.

[0104] Contact angle measurements using a drop of 5 L water revealed that positively charged TPQP-Cl is more hydrophobic than PES. (FIG. 5)

[0105] The concentration of polymer solution and ratio of PES/TPQPCl can be varied to fabricate the ultrafiltration membranes with different filtration properties. For example, use of a 15 wt % polymer solution with a PES/TPQP-Cl mass ratio of 80/20 is used, the resulting ultrafiltration membrane has a water flux of 1252 Lm.sup.2 h.sup.1 (LMH) at a testing pressure of 100 kPa, which is about 45 times the water flux of pure PES membrane (25 LMH at 100 kPa). The molecular weight cut off (MWCO) of pure PES membrane is about 75000 (pore size of about 14.4 nm), whereas the PES-TPQP-Cl membrane exhibits the highest water flux, and a MWCO of 135000 (pore size of about 19.2 nm).

[0106] FIGS. 1d(i) and 1d(ii) compares the microstructure of the PES-TPQP-CL membrane with PES. Both membranes show asymmetric structures consisting of a top thin selective skin layer, a thick bottom layer with fully developed macro-voids. With an addition of TPQP-CL, macrovoids at the bottom increased in number and size.

[0107] Table 2 lists the contact angle of PES and PES-TPQP-Cl ultrafiltration membranes. As listed in Table 2, the hydrophobicity of the top skin layer is similar to that of the bottom layer in the PES ultrafiltration membrane.

TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Top surface Bottom surface contact angle contact angle Ultrafiltration Membrane () () PES membrane 59.4 3.3 61.3 4.3 PES membrane with 20% 58.6 2.8 89.6 3.1 TPQP-CI

[0108] However in PES-TPQP-Cl membrane the skin layer is more hydrophilic than the bottom layer. In addition XPS elemental analysis of PES-TPQP-Cl membrane shows that the skin layer contains 0.33 mol % P, and the bottom layer has 0.48 mol % P (ie 45.5% increase) indicating that the charge density gradually increases from the skin layer to the bottom layer.

[0109] It is because the fabrication of PES-TPQP-Cl membrane, PES-TPQP-Cl is more hydrophobic than PES, and it will be pushed from the skin layer to the bottom layer during solvent exchange with water from the top surface in the phase inversion process. Without wishing to be bound by theory it is believed that this unique gradient structure causes a dramatic enhancement in water flux due to large differences in surface charge and surface tension between the skin layer and the bottom layer.

[0110] After the PES-TPQP-Cl membrane was ion-exchanged with 1M KOH solution, the resulting PES-TPQP-OH.sup. ultrafiltration membrane had a water flux of 1095 LMH with a testing pressure of 100 kPa, which was slightly lower than that of PES-TPQP-Cl membrane. While the PES-TPQP-Cl membrane was treated in 1M NaF solution to ion-exchange Cl.sup. with F.sup., the resulting PES-TPQP-F membrane exhibited a water flux of 1303 LMH at a testing pressure of 100 kPa, which was slightly higher than that of PES-TPQP-Cl.

[0111] The water permeability and MWCO of these membranes are plotted in FIG. 6 in comparison with ultrafiltration membranes of the prior art. In this figure the water permeability and MWCO of all the membranes were determined using the same testing method. There is a trade-off between the water permeability and the pore size of the top skin layer of the membranes. As clearly shown in FIG. 3a, PES-TPQP-Cl, PES-TPQP-OH and PES-TPQP-F membranes show extraordinarily high water permeability as compared with all other membranes. Therefore our new membranes have great potential to largely improve filtration efficiency and reduce the costs of ultrafiltration processes in a wide range of applications including clean water production, wastewater treatment, food processing and bioprocessing.

[0112] While this invention has been described in connection with specific embodiments thereof, it will be understood that it is capable of further modification(s). This application is intended to cover any variations uses or adaptations of the invention following in general, the principles of the invention and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice within the art to which the invention pertains and as may be applied to the essential features hereinbefore set forth.

[0113] As the present invention may be embodied in several forms without departing from the spirit of the essential characteristics of the invention, it should be understood that the above described embodiments are not to limit the present invention unless otherwise specified, but rather should be construed broadly within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects as illustrative only and not restrictive.

[0114] Various modifications and equivalent arrangements are intended to be included within the spirit and scope of the invention and appended claims. Therefore, the specific embodiments are to be understood to be illustrative of the many ways in which the principles of the present invention may be practiced. In the following claims, means-plus-function clauses are intended to cover structures as performing the defined function and not only structural equivalents, but also equivalent structures.

[0115] Comprises/comprising and includes/including when used in this specification is taken to specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps or components but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, components or groups thereof. Thus, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout the description and the claims, the words comprise, comprising, includes, including and the like are to be construed in an inclusive sense as opposed to an exclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, in the sense of including, but not limited to.