Membrane Aging as the Real Culprit of Alzheimer's Disease:Modification of a Hypothesis

Our previous studies proposed that Alzheimer’s disease(AD) is a metabolic disorder and hypothesized that abnormal brain glucose metabolism inducing multiple pathophysiological cascades contributes to AD pathogenesis. Aging is one of the great significant risk factors for AD. Membrane aging is first prone to affect the function and structure of the brain by impairing glucose metabolism.We presume that risk factors of AD, including genetic factors(e.g., the apolipoprotein E ε4 allele and genetic mutations) and non-genetic factors(such as fat, diabetes,and cardiac failure) accelerate biomembrane aging and lead to the onset and development of the disease. In this review,we further modify our previous hypothesis to demonstrate‘‘membrane aging’’ as an initial pathogenic factor that results in functional and structural alterations of membranes and, consequently, glucose hypometabolism and multiple pathophysiological cascades.

Recent advances in multi-layer composite polymeric membranes for CO_2 separation: A review

The development of multilayer composite membranes for CO_2 separation has gained increasing attention due to the desire for energy efficient technologies. Multilayer composite membranes have many advantages, including the possibility to optimize membrane materials independently by layers according to their different functions and to reduce the overall transport resistance by using ultrathin selective layers, and less limitations on the material mechanical properties and processability. A comprehensive review is required to capture details of the progresses that have already been achieved in developing multilayer composite membranes with improved CO_2 separation performance in the past 15-20 years.In this review, various composite membrane preparation methods were compared, advances in composite membranes for CO_2/CH_4 separation,CO_2/N_2 and CO_2/H_2 separation were summarized with detailed data, and challenges facing for the CO_2 separation using composite membranes,such as aging, plasticization and long-term stability, were discussed. Finally the perspectives and future research directions for composite membranes were presented.

Preparation and thermal treatment of Pd/Ag composite membrane on a porousα-alumina tube by sequential electroless plating technique for H_2 separation

Pd/Ag/α-Al2O3 composite membranes were prepared by sequential electroless plating technique. The prepared membranes were characterized by X-ray diffraction （XRD）, scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, energy dispersive spectroscopy, and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy techniques （ICP-AES）. Effects of annealing time, Ag content, and air treatment on the hydrogen permeation flux and morphology of the alloys were investigated. The results of the investigation showed that the prepared type of tube had a good potential as substrate for membrane preparation. In addition, a uniform defect-free alloy was prepared by annealing at 550 ℃ in H2 atmosphere. The permeation results showed an increase in H2 permeation flux by increasing the Ag content and the annealing time. In addition, the air treatment of the prepared membranes at 400 ℃ for 1 h changed the morphology of the alloy and substantially enhanced the hydrogen flux.

Impacts of sodium hydroxide and sodium hypochlorite aging on polyvinylidene fluoride membranes fabricated with different methods

This study compared the effects of chemical aging on the polyvinylidene fluoride（PVDF）membranes fabricated with the methods of non-solvent induced phase separation（NIPS）（named NIPS-PVDF） and thermally induced phase separation（TIPS）（named TIPS-PVDF）. The chemical solutions of sodium hypochlorite（NaClO） and sodium hydroxide（NaOH） were chosen at the concentration of 5000 mg/L. The equivalence of 5 and 10 years was respectively selected as the time of aging. The physicochemical evolutions of membrane aging are characterized on the base of morphology analysis, chemical components, permeation ability and mechanical properties. The aging of NIPS-PVDF membrane led to the elimination of surface hydrophilic additives, while NaO H focused on the dehydrofluorination process resulting in the formation of conjugated chains of polyene on the skeleton structure. The chemical components of the surface of TIPS-PVDF membrane were removed continuously during the aging processes of both NaClO and NaOH, which was caused by the saponification of surface additives and the chain scissions of skeleton structure, but without producing any obvious conjugated chains of polyene. All the aging processes led to the increase of contact angle and the decrease of mechanical properties, and the permeability was reduced first and increased later due to the enlargement of surface membrane pores and membrane block. With the influence of membrane aging, selectivity of membrane was decreased（except coliform bacteria）. At the beginning of filtration, the turbidity and particle count were at relatively high levels and declined with the filtration process.

Aging of PVDF and PES ultrafiltration membranes by sodium hypochlorite:Effect of solution pH

Sodium hypochlorite(NaClO)is a commonly applied cleaning agent for ultrafiltration membranes in water and wastewater treatment.Long-term exposure to NaClO might change the properties and performance of polymeric membranes,and ultimately shorten membrane lifespan.Active species in NaClO solution vary with solution pH,and the aging effects can change depending on the membrane material.In this study,the aging of polyvinylidene fluoride(PVDF)and polyethersulfone(PES)membranes by NaClO at pH 3–11 was investigated by examining variations in chemical composition,surface charge,surface morphology,mechanical strength,permeability,and retention ability.Polyvinyl pyrrolidone(PVP),which was blended in both membranes,was oxidized and dislodged due to NaClO aging at all investigated pH values,but the oxidation products and dislodgement ratio of PVP varied with solution pH.For the PVDF membrane,NaClO aging at pH 3–11 caused a moderate increase in permeability and decreased retention due to the oxidation and release of PVP.The tensile strength decreased only at pH 11 because of the defluorination of PVDF molecules.For the PES membrane,NaClO aging at all investigated pH resulted in chain scission of PES molecules,which was favored at pH 7 and 9,potentially due to the formation of free radicals.Therefore,a decrease in tensile strength and retention ability,as well as an increase in permeability,occurred in the PES membrane for NaClO aging at pH 3–11.Overall,the results can provide a basis for selecting chemical cleaning conditions for PVDF and PES membranes.