Zwitterionic sulfone polymer flat sheet membrane

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016136589-A1
Application number	US-201514958939-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 4, 2015
Priority date	Nov 19, 2014
Publication date	May 19, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Provided herein are certain sulfone polymers having zwitterionic functionality and blends thereof which are suitable for preparation of flat sheet membranes. The polymer blends comprise a blend of a first polymer comprising a sulfone polymer having zwitterionic functionality and a second polymer comprising a sulfone polymer.

First claim

1 . A flat sheet membrane comprising a polymer comprising structural units of formula IB attached to structural units of formula II

wherein
R 1 and R 2 are independently at each occurrence a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, a nitro group, a C 1 -C 12 alkyl, a C 3 -C 12 cycloalkyl, or an aryl ring;
k is from 0 to 10;
Y′ and R′ are each, independently, hydrogen, C 1 -C 20 alkyl, or an aryl ring;
R 4 is a bond, a C 1 -C 12 alkyl, a C 3 -C 12 cycloalkyl, or an aryl ring;
R 5 and R 6 are independently at each occurrence a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, a nitro group, a C 1 -C 12 alkyl, a C 3 -C 12 cycloalkyl, or an aryl ring; and
Y′ and R′ are each, independently, hydrogen, C 1 -C 20 alkyl, or an aryl ring;
a, a′ and b are independently at each occurrence 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4;
and
m and n are each, independently, 0 or 1.

2 . The flat sheet membrane of claim 1 , wherein the polymer comprises structural units of formula VII:

wherein P+Q=1, P=0.30-0.50, Q=0.50-0.70.

3 . The flat sheet membrane of claim 2 , wherein the mole fraction of the zwitterion-functionalized structural units of formula IB in the polymer is in a range from about 30 mole percent to about 50 mole percent of the total moles of the units of formula IB and formula II.

4 . The flat sheet membrane of claim 1 , wherein the molecular weight of the polymer is in a range from about 10000 g/mol to about 80000 g/mol.

5 . A flat sheet membrane module comprising a plurality of flat sheet membranes of claim 1 .

6 . A flat sheet membrane module comprising a plurality of flat sheet membranes of claim 2 .

7 . A flat sheet membrane, comprising a blend of a first polymer comprising a sulfone polymer having zwitterionic functionality and a second polymer comprising a sulfone polymer.

8 . The flat sheet membrane of claim 7 , wherein the first polymer comprising a sulfone polymer having zwitterionic functionality comprises structural units of formula IA or formula IB attached to structural units of formula II:

wherein
R 1 and R 2 are independently at each occurrence a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, a nitro group, a C 1 -C 12 alkyl, a C 3 -C 12 cycloalkyl, or an aryl ring;
k is from 0 to 10;
Y′ and R′ are each, independently, hydrogen, C 1 -C 20 alkyl, or an aryl ring;
R 4 is a bond, a C 1 -C 12 alkyl, a C 3 -C 12 cycloalkyl, or an aryl ring;
R 5 and R 6 are independently at each occurrence a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, a nitro group, a C 1 -C 12 alkyl, a C 3 -C 12 cycloalkyl, or an aryl ring; and
Y′ and R′ are each, independently, hydrogen, C 1 -C 20 alkyl, or an aryl ring;
a, a′ and b are independently at each occurrence 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4;
and
m and n are each, independently, 0 or 1.

9 . The flat sheet membrane of claim 7 , wherein the second polymer comprising a sulfone polymer comprises structural units having the structure of formula II, III IV, or V

wherein
R 5 and R 6 are independently at each occurrence a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, a nitro group, a C 1 -C 12 alkyl, a C 3 -C 12 cycloalkyl, or an aryl ring; and
Y′ and R′ are each, independently, hydrogen, C 1 -C 20 alkyl, or an aryl ring;
a and b are independently at each occurrence 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4; and
m and n are each, independently, 0 or 1.

10 . The flat sheet membrane of claim 7 , wherein the first polymer comprising a sulfone polymer having zwitterionic functionality comprises structural units of formula IA or formula IB attached to structural units of formula II:

wherein
R 1 and R 2 are independently at each occurrence a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, a nitro group, a C 1 -C 12 alkyl, a C 3 -C 12 cycloalkyl, or an aryl ring;
k is from 0 to 10;
Y′ and R′ are each, independently, hydrogen, C 1 -C 20 alkyl, or an aryl ring;
R 4 is a bond, a C 1 -C 12 alkyl, a C 3 -C 12 cycloalkyl, or an aryl ring;
R 5 and R 6 are independently at each occurrence a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, a nitro group, a C 1 -C 12 alkyl, a C 3 -C 12 cycloalkyl, or an aryl ring; and
Y′ and R′ are each, independently, hydrogen, C 1 -C 20 alkyl, or an aryl ring;
a, a′ and b are independently at each occurrence 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4;
m and n are each, independently, 0 or 1; and

wherein the second polymer comprising a sulfone polymer comprises structural units having the structure of formula II, IV, or V

11 . The flat sheet membrane of claim 10 , wherein the first polymer comprising a sulfone polymer having zwitterionic functionality comprises structural units of formula VI:

wherein w is 0, 1, 2, or 3.

12 . The flat sheet membrane of claim 10 , wherein the first polymer comprising a sulfone polymer having zwitterionic functionality comprises structural units of formula VII:

wherein P+Q=1, P=0.30-0.50, Q=0.50-0.70.

13 . The flat sheet membrane of claim 12 , wherein the mole fraction of the zwitterion-functionalized structural units of formula IB in the first polymer is in a range from about 30 mole percent to about 50 mole percent of the total moles of the units of formula IB and formula II.

14 . The flat sheet membrane of claim 7 , wherein the molecular weight of the first polymer comprising a sulfone polymer having zwitterionic functionality is in a range from about 10000 g/mol to about 80000 g/mol.

15 . The flat sheet membrane of claim 10 , wherein the second polymer comprising a sulfone polymer comprises a polysulfone comprising structural units of formula II.

16 . The flat sheet membrane of claim 10 , wherein the second polymer comprising a sulfone polymer comprises a polyphenyl sulfone comprising structural units of formula IV.

17 . The flat sheet membrane of claim 10 , wherein the second polymer comprising a sulfone polymer comprises a polyethersulfone comprising structural units of formula V.

18 . The flat sheet membrane of claim 7 , wherein the second polymer comprising a sulfone polymer is in an amount from about 0.5 weight % to about 5 weight % of the total weight of polymer in the membrane.

19 . The flat sheet membrane of claim 7 , wherein the molecular weight of the second polymer comprising a sulfone polymer is in a range from about 50000 g/mol to about 80000 g/mol.

20 . The flat sheet membrane of claim 10 , wherein the first polymer comprising a sulfone polymer having zwitterionic functionality comprises structural units of formula IB attached to structural units of formula II, and the second polymer comprising a sul

Assignees

• Gen Electric

Inventors

• Misner Matthew Jeremiah
• Zhou Hongyi
• Carr Louisa Ruth
• Mccloskey Patrick Joseph

Classifications

• B01D63/08

  Flat membrane modules · CPC title

• B01D71/80 Primary

  Block polymers · CPC title

• B01D2325/18

  Membrane materials having mixed charged functional groups · CPC title

• B01D71/68

  Polysulfones; Polyethersulfones · CPC title

• B01D69/02 Primary

  characterised by their properties · CPC title