Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 13
Claim 1
Independent Claim
250 words
A process for producing a porous aromatic polyimide membrane, comprising the steps of: (1) dissolving 3 to 30% by weight of an aromatic polyamic acid which has been prepared by the polymerization of at least one aromatic tetracarboxylic acid component with at least one aromatic diamine component, in 70 to 97% by weight of a solvent consisting essentially of a homogeneous mixture of: (A) 100 parts by weight of a base solvent consisting essentially of at least one polar organic compound which base solvent is capable of dissolving therein said polyamic acid in a concentration of at least 5% by weight therein, and of evaporating at a temperature of from 30' to 400° C. and (B) 5 to 150 parts by weight of an additional liquid consisting essentially of at least one polar organic compound, which additional liquid is capable of dissolving therein not more than 3% by weight of said polyamic acid and is capable of evaporating at a smaller evaporating rate than that of said base solvent at the above-mentioned evaporating temperature, to provide a dope solution; (2) forming a thin layer of said dope solution at a temperature of from 0° to 120° C.; and (3) heating said thin layer of said dope solution at a temperature of from 30° to 400° C., whereby said mixed solvent is gradually evaporated off from said thin layer of said dope solution and said polyamic acid is imidized to a corresponding polyimide, to form a porous membrane of said polyimide.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
250 words
A process for producing a porous aromatic polyimide membrane, comprising the steps of: (1) dissolving 3 to 30% by weight of an aromatic polyamic acid which has been prepared by the polymerization of at least one aromatic tetracarboxylic acid component with at least one aromatic diamine component, in 70 to 97% by weight of a solvent consisting essentially of a homogeneous mixture of: (A) 100 parts by weight of a base solvent consisting essentially of at least one polar organic compound which base solvent is capable of dissolving therein said polyamic acid in a concentration of at least 5% by weight therein, and of evaporating at a temperature of from 30' to 400° C. and (B) 5 to 150 parts by weight of an additional liquid consisting essentially of at least one polar organic compound, which additional liquid is capable of dissolving therein not more than 3% by weight of said polyamic acid and is capable of evaporating at a smaller evaporating rate than that of said base solvent at the above-mentioned evaporating temperature, to provide a dope solution; (2) forming a thin layer of said dope solution at a temperature of from 0° to 120° C.; and (3) heating said thin layer of said dope solution at a temperature of from 30° to 400° C., whereby said mixed solvent is gradually evaporated off from said thin layer of said dope solution and said polyamic acid is imidized to a corresponding polyimide, to form a porous membrane of said polyimide.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
42 words
The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein said polyamic acid contains at least 60 molar % of at least one recurring unit of the formula (I): ##STR5## wherein R represents a tetravalent aromatic radical and R' represents a divalent aromatic radical.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
41 words
The process as claimed in claim 2, wherein said polyamic acid exhibits a logarithmic viscosity of from 0.1 to 7, which has been determined at a concentration of 0.5 g per 100 ml of N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone at a temperature of 30° C.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
60 words
The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein said polyamic acid is one prepared by polymerizing a carboxylic acid component consisting essentially of at least one aromatic tetracarboxylic acid compound with a diamine component consisting essentially of at least one aromatic diamine compound at a temperature of from approximately 0° C. to approximately 160° C. in a polar organic solvent.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
55 words
The process as claimed in claim 4, wherein said aromatic tetracarboxylic acid component is selected from the group consisting of biphenyl tetracarboxylic acids, benzophenone tetracarboxylic acids, 2,2-bis (dicarboxyphenyl) propane, bis (3,4-dicarboxyphenyl) methane, bis (3,4-dicarboxyphenyl) sulfone, bis (3,4-dicarboxyphenyl) ether, bis (3,4-dicarboxyphenyl) thioether, pyromellitic acid, and acid anhydrides, salts and lower alcohole esters of the above-mentioned acids.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
109 words
The process as claimed in claim 4, wherein said aromatic diamine compound is selected from the group consisting of those of the formulae (II) through (V) ##STR6## wherein R 1 , R 2 and R 3 respectively represent, independently from each other, a member selected from the group consisting of hydrogen atom, lower alkyl radicals having 1 to 3 carbon atoms and lower alkoxyl radicals having 1 to 3 carbon atoms; A represents a divalent linking member selected from the class consisting of --O--, --S--, --CO--, --SO 2 --, --SO--, --CH 2 -- and --C(CH 3 ) 2 --; and m represents an integer of from 1 to 4.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
35 words
The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein said base solvent consists essentially of at least one member selected from the group consisting of N,N-dimethylformamide, N,N-dimethylacetamide, dimethylsulfoxide, hexamethylphosphoric amide, N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone, pyridine, dimethylsulfone, tetramethylenesulfone and dimethyltetramethylenesulfone.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
38 words
The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein said additional liquid consists of at least one member selected from the group consisting essentially of phenanthrene, o-terphenyl, p-terphenyl, α-chloronaphthalene, triphenylphospine, triphenylamine, aniline, naphthalene, 1-methylnaphthalene, 2-methylnaphthalene, dimethylnaphthalene, anthracene, and 1,2-benzanthracene.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
25 words
The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein said dope solution exhibits a rotation viscosity of at least 500 centipoises at the thin layer-forming temperature.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
56 words
The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein said heating procedure is carried out at a temperature of from 30° to 150° C. to evaporate a portion of said solvent and, then, at a temperature of from 150° to 400° C. to additionally evaporate the remaining portion of said solvent and to imidize said polyamic acid.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
54 words
The process as claimed in claim 10, wherein said additional evaporating-imidizing procedure is carried out firstly at a temperature of from 150° to 250° C., secondly, at a temperature of from 30° to 100° C. above the first temperature and, finally, at a temperature of from 30° to 100° C. above the second temperature.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
16 words
A porous membrane of an aromatic polyimide, prepared by the process as claimed in claim 1.