Nanoporous Membrane with Ultrahigh Selectivity and Flux Suitable for Filtration of Viruses

  • Yang, Seung-Yun (Departments of Environmental Science and Engineering and Chemical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology) ;
  • Ryu In-Cheol (Department of Life sciences, Pohang University of Science and Technology) ;
  • Jang, Sung-Key (Department of Life sciences, Pohang University of Science and Technology) ;
  • Kim, Jin-Kon (Departments of Environmental Science and Engineering and Chemical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology) ;
  • Russell Thomas P. (Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts at Amherst)
  • Published : 2006.10.13

Abstract

In this study, we describe a new double layered nanoporous membrane suitable for virus filtration. One layer is an 80 nm thick film having cylindrical pores with diameters of 15 nm and a narrow pore size distribution. This layer is prepared by using a thin film of the mixture of a block copolymer and a homopolymer, and mainly acts to separate viruses. The support layer (${\sim}150\;microns\;thick$) is a conventional micro-filtration membrane with a broad pore size distribution. This asymmetric membrane showed very high selectivity and flux for the separation of human rhinovirus type 14 (HRV 14) which has a diameter of ${\sim}30\;nm$ and is a major pathogen of the common cold in humans.

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