INORGANIC MEMBRANE FOR MICROFILTRATION, AND A PROCESS FOR PRODUCTION OF SUCH AN INORGANIC MEMBRANE

摘要

The inorganic membrane consists of a macroporous inorganic support and an inorganic membrane layer. The membrane layer is formed through depositing an inorganic layer by 'Chemical Vapour Deposition' or 'sputtering' on the macroporous support, onto this inorganic layer a photo-lacquer layer is formed, this photo-lacquer layer being exposed to a regular mask pattern with the use of a suitable source, this lacquer layer being developed, and in the inorganic layer the mask pattern is etched by a suitable etchant, thus forming the membrane layer. The pattern of the membrane layer may be given any particularly design, practically with a repetition rate in the range 0.1-10 νm. It is thus conceivable to separate not only particles according to their size, but also to their shape. The membrane layer can be deposited very thinly in comparison to the dimension of the pore size, enabling a large flux, a reduced clogging and a minimal damage to particles or cells.