Nanoporous metal-polymer composite membranes for organics separations and catalysis.

Metallic thin-film composite membranes are produced by sputtering metal films onto commercial polymer membranes. The separations capability of the membrane substrate is enhanced with the addition of a 10 nm Ta film. The addition of a tantalum layer decreases the molecular weight cutoff of the membrane from 70 kDa dextran (19 nm) to below 5 kDa (6 nm).

Synthesis of Catalytic Nanoporous Metallic Thin Films on Polymer Membranes.

Composite membranes were produced with a metallic thin film forming the upper layer of the composite on a porous polymer support. Commercially available membranes were used as supports with both micron and nanometer scale pores. Alloy films of ~110 nm thickness were deposited via magnetron sputtering to produce the top layer of the composite.