Carbon Nanotube Composite Membrane
AssigneeIDEX Health & Science LLC
InventorsCarl W. Sims, Quan Liu
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A composite membrane for separations includes a fabric with a non-woven array of intermingled carbon nanotubes, and a dopant incorporated with the fabric to form a non-porous, permeable composite. The composite membrane may be used to separate a target gas from a liquid by mounting the composite membrane in a housing chamber, and conditioning a permeate side of the chamber to establish a driving force for the target gas across the non-porous, permeable composite membrane.
Claims20
A composite membrane, comprising:
- a fabric comprising a non-woven array of intermingled carbon nanotubes;
- and
- a polymer matrix incorporated with said fabric to an extent to form a non-porous, permeable composite having a target gas permeance of at least 0.1 GPU.
A system for separating a target gas from a liquid, said system comprising:
- a housing defining a chamber, and a composite membrane separating said chamber into a permeate side and a retentate side, said housing having an inlet and an outlet opening to said retentate side of said chamber, and a gas port opening to said permeate side of said chamber, said composite membrane being capable of separating the target gas from the liquid, and including a fabric comprising a non-woven array of intermingled carbon nanotubes.
A method for separating a target gas from a liquid, said method comprising:
- (a) providing a housing defining a chamber, and a composite membrane separating said chamber into a permeate side and a retentate side, said housing having an inlet and an outlet opening to said retentate side of said chamber, said composite membrane including a fabric comprising a non-woven array of intermingled carbon nanotubes and a dopant incorporated with said fabric to form a non-porous, permeable composite with said fabric, wherein said composite exhibits a permeance of at least 0.1 GPU to the target gas;
- (b) delivering a liquidous fluid containing the target gas to said retentate side of said chamber through said inlet;
- and
- (c) conditioning said permeate side of said chamber to exert a first partial pressure of the target gas that is less than a second partial pressure of the target gas in the liquidous fluid in said retentate side.
A method for transporting ionic species across a barrier between a first fluid and a second fluid, said method comprising:
- (a) providing a housing defining a chamber, and a composite membrane defining the barrier and separating said chamber into a first side and a second side, said composite film including a fabric comprising a nonwoven array of intermingled carbon nanotubes and a dopant incorporated with said fabric to form a nonporous, permeable composite;
- (b) delivering said first fluid to said first side of said chamber, and said second fluid to said second;
- and
- (c) applying a driving force to said chamber for motivating the ionic species across the barrier.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.