Graphene membrane microfluidic system

An assembly, comprising:

• a housing having a first inlet, a second inlet, a first outlet, and a second outlet;
• a first substrate comprising a first set of microchannels fluidly coupled at a first end to the first inlet and at a second end to the first outlet;
• a second substrate comprising a second set of microchannels fluidly coupled at a first end to the second inlet and at a second end to the second outlet;
• a membrane disposed between the first and second substrates, the membrane comprising one or more graphene layers and one or more polymeric layers;
• wherein the one or more polymeric layers are permeable to a first fluid and permeable to a second fluid, and the graphene layer is impermeable to the first fluid and impermeable to the second fluid such that when the first fluid is present in the first set of microchannels and the second fluid is present in the second set of microchannels the first and second fluids can exchange mass or heat with one another across the membrane without directly contacting one another.

A method, comprising:

• flowing a first fluid through a first microchannel defined in a first microchannel substrate and along a first surface of a membrane, the membrane being disposed between the first microchannel substrate and a second microchannel substrate, the membrane comprising a first polymeric layer, a second polymeric layer, and at least one graphene layer disposed between the first and second polymeric layers;
• flowing a second fluid through a second microchannel defined in the second microchannel substrate and along a second surface of the membrane such that the first and second fluids contact opposite sides of the membrane and can interact with one another across the membrane without directly contacting one another;
• and
• wherein at least a portion of the first microchannel overlaps at least a portion of the second microchannel.