Patents

iner t gas. The ionic movement unde r the influence of an electric cur ren t is modified by the magnet ic field: h y d r a t e d ions move along the r ing channe l conta in ing the tes t solution. The advan tage of the cell des ign is in improved de te rmina t ion of m e m b r a n e charac te r i s t i c s due to a reduc t ion in concent ra t ion polar izat ion and more uniform flow.

Patent number: SU 1789253 Date: 23 J a n u a r y 1993 Inventors: V.I. Baglai, I.M Tseiflln, V.G. S tepanov Applicant: Soyuzgiprovodkhoz Inst. (Ship Mechanical Engineer ing Research Inst i tute)

Fluorinated polymer This pa ten t , one of the first to be gran ted unde r Russ i an ra the r than Soviet law, covers the surface modificat ion of

polytr imethylsi lyl propyne membranes . The chosen me thod uses gas p lasma: the source gas can be a f luorocarbon, s u l phu r hexafluoride or ni trogen trifluoride, ei ther nea t or di luted with nitrogen, oxygen or an iner t gas. The r eason for the t r ea tmen t is to increase the selectivity of the m e m b r a n e when used in indus t r ia l gas separat ion.

Patent number: RU 2001665 Date: 30 October 1993 Inventors: E.G. Litvinova, N.N. Fateev, V.S. Khotimskii et al Applicant: Petrochemical Synthes is Inst i tute

Nitrogen oxides sensor The sensor detects ni trogen oxides by their effect on the conduct ivi ty of a m e m b r a n e connected between two electrodes. The composi te membrane conta ins a silicon

toroidal chamber / N

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- membrane

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Membrane testing cell

s u b s t r a t e and a th in upper layer of a ph tha locyan ine coordinat ion compound, in which the t rans i t ion meta l can be copper, nickel, lead, iron, zinc or cobalt, and magnes ium is also proposed. S u b s t i t u e n t s on the benzene ring of the ph tha locyan ine are a lso necessary , a l though their na tu re is specified only in tha t the volume tha t they occupy mus t be greater t h a n tha t of hydrogen.

Patent number: JP 6063414 Date: 8 March 1994 Inventor: K. Moriya Applicant: Osaka Gas Co. Ltd

Electrophoretic separator for proteins Classical e lec t rophores is t echniques are widely used in r e sea rch work on prote ins and pept ides , bu t suffer from the defects of s lowness and the need to opera te in ba tch mode.

The device pa t en ted here is capable of cont inuous-f low separa t ions . It is tubular , with a s ta tor and rotor which together form the process ing chamber . The rotor is des igned to p roduce toroidal vort ices in the chamber, which create secondary flows or mater ia l and increase the separa t ion capaci ty.

Membranes are here fitted ad jacen t to the two electrodes and are used to isolate electrolyte from the working fluid held in the process ing chamber . Con t inuous zone electrophoresis , Isoelectrlc focusing separa t ions and zone electric field grad ien t focusing are poss ible in th is a ppa r a t u s .

Previous prepara t ive-sca le e lec t rophores is equ ipment h a s been commercia l ized bu t this can only operate in ba t ch mode, and its const ruct ion , which entai ls 20 discre te c om pa r t m e n t s s epa ra t ed by m e m b r a n e screens, is expensive to mainta in .

Patent number: US 5298143 Date: 29 March 1994 Inventors: C.F. Ivory, W.A. Goble Applicant: Washington Sta te Universi ty Research Founda t ion

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