Patent ID: 11883787
Assignee: SOCIETE DE COMMERCIALISATION DES PRODUITS DE LA RECHERCHE APPLIQUÉE SOCPRA SCIENCES SANTE ET HUMAINES S.E.C.
Field: Chemical engineering (Chemistry)
Classification: CPC B  Y | IPC B

Claim 18:
19. A method of cleaning the membrane of claim 2 after the membrane has been used for filtering a feed or while the membrane is being used for filtering a feed, the method comprises the step of contacting the membrane with CO2 or an inert gas to:
increase the apparent pore size of the membrane, preferably to a maximum pore size, and/or
increase or decrease the hydrophilicity of the membrane, and/or
dislodge matter clogging the membrane by extending the CO2-responsive polymer chains away from the surface of the cellulose nanocrystals or collapse the CO2-responsive polymer chains on themselves close to the surface of the cellulose nanocrystals.