Self-coiling hollow fibre membrane
AssigneeOxymem Limited
InventorsEoin Syron, Michael Semmens, Malcolm Whelan, John Geaney, Nigel Coombes, Wayne Byrne, Barry Heffernan
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Abstract
A hollow fibre membrane having a coiled, a hemihelix, a helical or an undulated native form, in which the membrane can be stretched by up to 4-times its original length with no plastic deformation, and wherein the native form of the membrane is produced by the asymmetric flow of liquid polymer through an opening of a die or nozzle.
Claims13
A poly-dimethyl-siloxane hollow fibre membrane having a hemihelix, a helical or an undulated native form wherein when placed under tension, the hollow fibre membrane has its pitch altered and in which the membrane can be stretched by up to 4-times its original length so that the poly-dimethyl-siloxane hollow fibre membrane goes from a non-linear form to a substantially linear form with no plastic deformation;
- wherein the native form of the poly-dimethyl-siloxane hollow fibre membrane is produced by the asymmetric flow of liquid polymer through a die opening and around a needle which are asymmetrically aligned;
- wherein the direction of the hemihelical form, coiled form or undulated form of the poly-dimethyl-siloxane membrane fibre is in a clockwise direction or an anticlockwise direction, or a combination thereof;
- and wherein when the membrane has a helical form, the membrane fibre has a fixed length with a variable distance in pitch, or has a regular coil diameter length and a regular coil pitch length, and wherein the hollow fibre membrane comprises pores of less than 5 μm.
A method of manufacturing a poly-dimethyl-siloxane hollow fibre membrane having a hemihelix, a helical or an undulated native form, wherein when placed under tension, the hollow fibre membrane has its pitch altered and in which the membrane can be stretched by up to 4-times its original length so that the poly-dimethyl-siloxane hollow fibre membrane goes from a non-linear form to a substantially linear form with no plastic deformation, and wherein the native form of the membrane is produced by the asymmetric flow of liquid poly-dimethyl-siloxane polymer through an opening of a die or nozzle, the method comprising the steps of:
- passing the liquid poly-dimethyl-siloxane polymer through a die opening and around a needle which are asymmetrically aligned,
- wherein the opening produces an asymmetric flow of liquid polymer as it exits the die or the nozzle in air to produce a hemihelical, helical or undulated membrane.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.