COMPOSITE MEMBRANE FORMED FROM POLYMER BLEND INCLUDING SELF-ASSEMBLING BLOCK COPOLYMERS

摘要

A method for making a composite membrane including the formation of a porous discriminating layer upon a surface of a porous support, including the step of a) forming a polymer blend comprising: i) a “blending” polymer and ii) a block copolymer comprising durable segments that form a co-continuous phase with the blending polymer and fugitive segments that form self-assembled assembled micro-domains within the co-continuous phase, and b) removing at least a portion of the fugitive segments to yield pores having an average size of ≦0.5 μm.

主权项

1. A method of making a composite membrane comprising the steps of:
a) providing a porous support comprising a first polymer including a plurality of repeat units each comprising at least one structure unit; and b) forming a porous discriminating layer upon a surface of the porous support, characterized by: forming a polymer blend comprising:
i) a second polymer including a plurality of repeat units each comprising at least one structure unit, and wherein at least 50 mole percent of repeat units of the first and second polymers include a common structural unit, andii) a block copolymer comprising durable segments that form a co-continuous phase with the second polymer, and fugitive segments that form micro-domains within the co-continuous phase; and removing at least a portion of the fugitive segments to yield pores having an average size of ≦5 μm.