Patents by Inventor Nora C. Beck Tan

Nora C. Beck Tan has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 6579948
    Abstract: A semipermeable membrane that is capable of remaining flexible at a temperature of at least −60° C. is selective to liquid penetrants depending on the size and polarity of the penetrants, and more specifically, the membrane has sufficient selectivity so as to be capable of allowing water to diffuse therethrough at a higher rate than virtually all organic liquids having a molecular weight higher than that of methanol. The semipermeable membrane, which is produced from an unsulfonated block copolymer having polystyrene and polyisobutylene segments, includes a sulfonated block copolymer including poly (styrene-co-styrene sulfonic acid) segments and polyisobutylene segments. Prior to modification by sulfonation, the unsulfonated polystyrene and polyisobutylene block copolymer includes polystyrene monomer in an amount of from 5% to 90% by weight of the total unsulfonated block copolymer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2000
    Date of Patent: June 17, 2003
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army
    Inventors: Nora C. Beck Tan, Dawn M. Crawford, James M. Sloan, Eugene Napadensky