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US 5,183,607 AGranted
Polymer membranes for separation process
OwnerGeorge H. Beall, Kishor P. Gadkaree +2inventors
InventorsGeorge H. Beall, Kishor P. Gadkaree, Thomas P. Grandi, Candace J. Quinn
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Abstract
Semi-permeable microporous polymer bodies, such as porous plates or membranes for separation processes, are provided, these being made of durable high-temperature thermoplastics, e.g., a liquid crystal polymer, by a process comprising melt-mixing the polymer with high loadings of leachable glass and then leaching the glass from the polymer to leave a continuous relict polymer network, the network typically demonstrating pore volumes of 50 percent or more and average pore diameters in the 0.1-10 micron range.
Claims6
A method comprising:
- making a semi-permeable microporous polymer body having an intercommunicating pore structure, said body having a pore volume of at least about 50 percent and a mean pore diameter in the range of about 0.1-10 microns, by the steps of:
- (i) melt-mixing a batch mixture of a thermoplastic polymer and a finely divided leachable glass to form a two-phase glass-polymer blend comprising a continuous polymer network and an intercommunicating glass phase;
- (ii) forming the blend into a glass-polymer body of a selected shape;
- and
- (iii) leaching the intercommunicating glass phase from the glass-polymer body without disruption of the continuous polymer network;
- thus to provide a microporous polymer body comprising an intercommunicating pore structure.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.