The Institute of Physical Organic Chemistry offers polymer membranes for the food, biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries to consumers under a manufacturing agreement and/or a licensing agreement and is looking for partners to conclude a distribution service s agreement.

Polymer membranes are widely used in the food, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical industries for the filtration, separation, concentration, and purification of liquids. They are used in microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, and reverse osmosis processes, providing high efficiency and reliability.

Major global manufacturers of polymer membranes:

1. Pall Corporation (USA)
- Key Features: One of the leaders in the production of membrane filters for the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and food industries.
2. Merck Millipore (a division of Merck KGaA, Germany)
- Key Features: Manufacturer of membranes for filtration and purification in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries.
3. Asahi Kasei Corporation (Japan)
- Key Features: Manufacturer of membrane filters for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and food industries.
4. Hyflux Ltd. (Singapore)
- Key Features: Manufacturer of membrane solutions for filtration and purification in the food and pharmaceutical industries.

MIFIL ultra- and microfiltration membranes, developed at the Institute of Physical and Organic Chemistry, are anisotropic porous films with a thin (0.5–5 μm) active layer supported by a large-pore base made of the same polymer material. Ultrafiltration membranes can be manufactured using various polymers: polysulfone, polyethersulfone, cellulose acetate, regenerated cellulose, and acrylonitrile copolymers with various nominal molecular weight cutoff limits (5, 10, 20, 50, 100, and 300 kDa), allowing membranes to be selected for most separation tasks. Polyamide-based microfiltration membranes are characterized by pore sizes of 0.1; 0.22; and 0.45 μm. The membrane is applied to a reinforcing backing made of non-woven polyester, which imparts the required set of mechanical properties. The asymmetric structure ensures high filtration and solute retention performance.
MIFIL membranes are manufactured as a continuous 400 mm wide sheet and are stored and transported dry. Membranes are also available in plate and disc form.

Sector Applications:
- Fractionation, purification, and concentration of solutions of synthetic and natural high-molecular compounds, colloids, and viruses;
- Clarifying filtration;
- Sterilizing filtration;
- Food industry, including dairy;
- Pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries;
- Pulp and paper industry;
- Sanitary-epidemiological and physicochemical analysis.

The information is published in the Catalog "100 Best Developments of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus for the National Economy in 2022–2023," pp. 124–125.

The membranes are characterized by increased resistance to contamination during filtration, hydrophilicity, high mechanical strength, and an optimal balance of permeability and selectivity.

More than half the cost of foreign analogues.

Readiness for production:
Pilot production of membranes and membrane elements based on them has been established.

The Institute of Physical Organic Chemistry completed the R&D project "Development of mechanically strong hollow fiber membranes with increased resistance to clogging for water treatment and purification."
The results were used in organizing membrane production.

The Institute of Physical Organic Chemistry is a global leader in the development, production, and use of ion-exchange fibrous materials and artificial substrates for plant cultivation. The Institute's work in membranes and membrane technologies is widely recognized. It has developed and manufactured membrane materials for ultra- and microfiltration in the form of continuous webs and capillaries, cassette, roll, and hollow fiber elements for use in the energy, food, pharmaceutical, electronics, and other industries.

The Institute's scientists have discovered and studied the following reactions: heterocyclization of azomethines with carbonyl compounds, hydroamination of oxygen-containing compounds, initiated decarboxylation of mercury acylates, and the construction of an isothiazole ring from 2-nitropentachlorobutadiene and sulfur. Convenient methods for synthesizing benzoquinolines, amines, pyridines, and organomercury compounds have been developed, as well as electrochemical methods for producing p-complexes of transition metals, and methods for synthesizing a variety of functionally substituted organohalogen compounds, carboranes, and peroxides.

Catalysts developed at the Institute have been implemented at major chemical plants. An antiblock composition preventing cellophane film from sticking together during production has been implemented industry-wide. An industrial radiation-chemical technology for producing the blood plasma substitutes "Rondex" and "Neorondex" has been developed.

The Institute's activities are aimed at developing scientific principles and technologies for creating new polymeric materials with special properties (selectively permeable, sorption, ion-exchange, and catalytically active) for use in industry, ecology, agriculture, and water treatment. The development of synthesis methods and technologies for producing medicinal substances based on amino acids and their derivatives, biologically active substances and compositions for medicine and agriculture, and functionally substituted organic and organoelement compounds.

The Institute conducts international scientific and technical cooperation through direct agreements with scientific institutions in Russia, Ukraine, Germany, Poland, Sweden, China, and elsewhere. Much attention is paid to fulfilling contracts for research and development and the manufacture of high-tech commercial products based on its own developments with organizations and firms in Saudi Arabia, Germany, Korea, Russia, and the United States.

Official website of the Institute of Physical and Organic Chemistry of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus.

Consumers interested in purchasing polymeric membranes for the food, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical industries under a manufacturing agreement and/or licensing agreement.

Partners interested in purchasing polymeric membranes for the food, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical industries under a distribution services agreement.