Patent ID: 11944941
Assignee: TRUSTEES OF TUFTS COLLEGE
Field: Chemical engineering (Chemistry)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 0:
1. A nanoporous membrane, comprising:
a. a porous support layer having a first effective pore size of 2 nm to 10 μm; and
b. a selective layer having a second effective pore size of less than 20 nm,
wherein
the selective layer, deposited on a surface of the porous support layer, contains an array of polymeric nanoparticles and nanopores therebetween;
the second effective pore size is smaller than the first effective pore size; and
the polymeric nanoparticles, formed of amphiphilic copolymers, each have on their surfaces a plurality of —C(═O)XR groups, wherein X is O, S, or NR′, R′ is H, alkyl, arylalkyl, heteroarylalkyl, aryl, or heteroaryl, and R is arylalkyl, heteroarylalkyl, aryl, or heteroaryl, wherein each of alkyl, arylalkyl, heteroarylalkyl, aryl, and heteroaryl is unsubstituted or mono-, di-, or tri-substituted with halo, hydroxyl, nitro, cyano, amino, C1-6 alkyl, C1-6 haloalkyl, C1-6 alkoxyl, C3-10 cycloalkyl, C3-10 heterocycloalkyl, C5-10 aryl, or C5-10 heteroaryl;
the amphiphilic copolymers each contain a hydrophilic repeat unit and a hydrophobic repeat unit, the two repeat units being in a roughly random order; and
the hydrophilic repeat unit is formed from a first vinyl compound containing one or more carboxylic acid groups; and the hydrophobic repeat unit is formed from a second vinyl compound containing one or more fluorine atoms.