Non-dewetting porous membranes

1. A microporous membrane composite comprising:

a microporous membrane support comprising a crosslinked fluorinated ionomer coating on the surfaces and pores of the microporous membrane support, wherein the fluorinated ionomer coating comprises units from copolymerization of:

i) tetrafluoroethylene;

ii) fluorinated monomer units containing ethylenic groups and functional groups chosen from SO 2 F, —COOR, —COF or combinations of these, wherein R is a C 1 to C 20 alkyl radical or a C 6 to C 20 aryl radical;

iii) monomeric units deriving from a bis-olefin, chosen from formulae (OF-1), (OF-2), or (OF-3) where:

wherein j is an integer between 2 and 10, and R1, R2, R3, R4, individually equal or different from each other, are H, F or C 1 to C 5 alkyl or (per)fluoroalkyl group;

wherein each of A, equal or different from each other and at each occurrence, is independently F, Cl, or H; each of B, equal or different from each other and at each occurrence, is independently F, Cl, H or ORB, wherein RB is a branched or straight chain alkyl radical which can be partially, substantially or completely fluorinated or chlorinated; E is a divalent group having 2 to 10 carbon atom, optionally fluorinated, which may be inserted with ether linkages;

wherein E, A and B have the same meaning as above defined; R5, R6, R7, independently equal or different from each other, are H, F or C1-5 alkyl or (per)fluoroalkyl group; and

iv) a compound having the formula R f (I) x (Br) y , wherein where R f is a fluoroalkyl or (per)fluoroalkyl or a (per)fluorochloroalkyl group having from 1 to 8 carbon atoms, and wherein x and y are integers from 0 to 2, with 1≤x+y≤2;

wherein the fluorinated ionomer coating has an equivalent weight of between 380 g/eq and 620 g/eq,

wherein the fluorinated ionomer coating is between about 25 weight percent and about 30 weight percent of the microporous membrane composite,

wherein the microporous membrane composite has a permeability of about 876 l/atm*hr*m 2 to about 2852 l/atm*hr*m 2 at 22.5° C. measured on 47 millimeter diameter microporous membrane composite samples, and

wherein the microporous membrane support has a rated pore size of 0.2 microns or less.

2. The microporous membrane composite of claim 1 , wherein the microporous membrane composite has an ion exchange capacity of 95 nanomoles/cm 2 or more.

3. The microporous membrane composite of claim 1 , wherein the microporous membrane support is a multilayer membrane.

4. The microporous membrane composite of claim 1 , wherein the microporous membrane composite has a mean densitometer value determined by densitometer readings of a methylene blue dye stained sample of said microporous membrane composite, said mean densitometer value is within ±9% of a mean densitometer value determined by said densitometer of said methylene blue dye stained microporous membrane composite after 4 or more hours flow through contact with isopropyl alcohol containing 5000 ppm fluorosurfactant at a temperature of between 70° C. and 80° C. at a flow rate of at least 80 ml/min through a 47 millimeter diameter sample of said methylene blue dye stained microporous membrane composite.

5. The microporous membrane composite of claim 1 , wherein the microporous membrane composite has a mean densitometer value determined by densitometer readings of a methylene blue dye stained sample of said microporous membrane composite, said mean densitometer value does not differ at the 95% confidence limit by a Student-t test from a mean densitometer value determined by said densitometer of said methylene blue dye stained sample of said microporous membrane composite after 4 or more hours flow through contact with isopropyl alcohol containing 5000 ppm fluorosurfactant at a temperature of between 70° C. and 80° C. at a flow rate of at least 80 ml/min through a 47 millimeter diameter sample of said methylene blue dye stained microporous membrane composite.

6. The microporous membrane composite of claim 1 , wherein the microporous membrane support has pores 0.1 micron or smaller.

7. A method of making a microporous membrane composite, comprising:

a) coating a microporous membrane with a fluorocarbon liquid composition comprising a fluorocarbon liquid medium containing a fluorinated ionomer dissolved or dispersed therein to thereby form a coated microporous membrane composite, the fluorinated ionomer having iodine and/or bromine atoms at a terminal position, at least 90% by weight of the fluorinated ionomer consisting in particles of size lower than 200 nm, wherein the fluorinated ionomer comprises units from copolymerization of:

i) tetrafluoroethylene;

ii) fluorinated monomer units containing ethylenic groups and functional groups chosen from —SO 2 F, —COOR, —COF or combinations of these, wherein R is a C 1 to C 20 alkyl radical or a C 6 to C 20 aryl radical;

iii) monomeric units deriving from a bis-olefin, chosen from formulae (OF-1), (OF-2), or (OF-3) where:

wherein j is an integer between 2 and 10, and R1, R2, R3, R4, individually equal or different from each other, are H, F or C 1 to C 5 alkyl or (per)fluoroalkyl group;

wherein each of A, equal or different from each other and at each occurrence, is independently F, Cl, or H; each of B, equal or different from each other and at each occurrence, is independently F, Cl, H or ORB, wherein RB is a branched or straight chain alkyl radical which can be partially, substantially or completely fluorinated or chlorinated; E is a divalent group having 2 to 10 carbon atom, optionally fluorinated, which may be inserted with ether linkages;

wherein E, A and B have the same meaning as above defined; R5, R6, R7, independently equal or different from each other, are H, F or C1-5 alkyl or (per)fluoroalkyl group; and

iv) a compound having the formula R f (I) x (Br) y , wherein where R f is a fluoroalkyl or (per)fluoroalkyl or a (per)fluorochloroalkyl group having from 1 to 8 carbon atoms, and wherein x and y are integers from 0 to 2, with 1≤x+y≤2;

wherein the fluorocarbon liquid medium comprises a mixture of perfluoropolyethers, said perfluoropolyethers having the general formula F 3 C—O—[CF 2 —CF(CF 3 )—O] n —[CF 2 —O] m —CF 3 wherein m and n are integers, being n>0 and m≥0, said perfluoropolyethers having molecular weight between 300 atomic mass units (amu) and 600 amu, said mixtures having prevailing average boiling points between 55° C. and 135° C. and an average ratio between the indexes m and n (m/n) below 0.05;

wherein the fluorinated ionomer has an equivalent weight of between 380 g/eq and 620 g/eq, and

b) crosslinking the coated microporous membrane by heating the coated microporous membrane to form a coated, crosslinked microporous membrane composite;

wherein the fluorinated ionomer coating is between about 25 weight percent and about 30 weight percent of the microporous membrane composite,

wherein the microporous membrane composite has a permeability of 876 l/atm*hr*m 2 to 2852 l/atm*hr*m 2 at 22.5° C. measured on 47 millimeter diameter microporous membrane composite samples, and

wherein the microporous membrane has a rated pore size of 0.2 microns or less.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising activating the functional groups chosen from —SO 2 F, —COOR, —COF or combinations of these by contacting sequentially the coated, crosslinked microporous membrane with base, acid, and water.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the base is KOH.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the acid is HNO 3 .

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the acid is HCl.

12. The method of claim 8 , wherein the acid is HNO 3 and HCl.

13. The microporous membrane composite of claim 1 , wherein the microporous membrane composite is non-dewetting after autoclave treatment in water.

14. The microporous membrane composite of claim 1 , wherein the microporous membrane composite is wettable with a solution containing methanol in an amount of less than 80 wt % methanol in water.

15. The microporous membrane composite of claim 1 , wherein the microporous membrane composite has a flow loss of 82% or less compared to the microporous membrane support when measured using 500 milliliters of isopropyl alcohol at a pressure of 97,905 Pa.

16. The microporous membrane composite of claim 1 , wherein the microporous membrane support has a surface area of 10 meter 2 /gram.

17. The microporous membrane composite of claim 1 , wherein the microporous membrane support has a pore size of 0.1 micron.

18. The microporous membrane composite of claim 17 , wherein the microporous membrane composite has a permeability of about 28521/atm*hr*m2 at 22.5° C. measured on 47 millimeter diameter microporous membrane composite samples.

19. The microporous membrane composite of claim 1 , wherein the microporous membrane composite is non-dewetting after exposure to a flow of a mixture of sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide.