Patent ID: 9404106
Filing Date: 2016-08-02
CPC Classification: A61B,A61N,B01D,B08B,B82Y,C12N,Y10T

Claim Text:
1. A method for preventing, reducing and/or eliminating the fouling of a composite material comprising (1) a plurality of conductive or semiconductive nanotubes which are aligned parallel to one another, and (2) a matrix arranged between said conductive or semiconductive nanotubes, said composite material in the form of an isoporous membrane with nanopores which correspond to the pores of said conductive or semiconductive nanotubes and optionally to the pores of said matrix arranged between said conductive or semiconductive nanotubes, said method comprising applying an electric field to said composite material, wherein the fouling is prevented, reduced and/or eliminated at the surface, at and in the pores of the composite material, wherein the electric field applied to said composite material is either a constant electric field obtained by applying a constant voltage of between 0.1 and 100 V for a time of 1 to 10000 s or a variable electric field obtained by applying a pulsed voltage of between 50 and 1000 V with pulses having a duration of between 0.1 μs and 100 ms and at a frequency between 10 Hz and 100 kHz.