Mixed-Matrix Membrane Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
Filing growth compares 2021 (85 records) with 2024 (70) — a three-year span. 2024 is the most recent year we treat as complete: publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in and any growth rate that ends there would understate the field. Top-5 share is the combined record count of the five largest assignees divided by all 998 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What the patent record shows
Mixed-matrix membranes combine a continuous polymer phase with dispersed inorganic filler particles — molecular sieves, zeolites, mesoporous silica — to push gas selectivity and permeability past what either material achieves alone. The patent record in scope spans 998 records filed between 2015 and mid-2026, concentrated overwhelmingly in separation-process claims (B01D) with secondary activity in catalysis, water treatment and inorganic compound chemistry. This is a field defined less by a single breakthrough chemistry than by a broad base of filler-polymer combinations, each claimed for a specific gas pair or duty.
Filing activity built through the late 2010s, peaked in 2021, and has since eased — a pattern consistent with a technology that reached broad claim coverage of core filler chemistries before continuation and refinement filings settled into a lower steady rate. The most-cited records in the corpus date from the 1980s through the 2000s, which says more about citation accumulation time than about where current R&D activity sits.
Let an AI agent run this analysis on your own technology
Pick a task. Every answer cites the patents behind it.
Filing trends and technology composition
Two views of the same 998-record dataset: how filing volume has moved year over year, and how records distribute across IPC subclasses.
Filing trend, 2017-2026
Filings rose from 41 in 2017 to a peak of 85 in 2021, then eased to 70 by 2024 — an 18% decline over that three-year window. 2025 and 2026 counts are lower still, but that reflects publication lag of roughly 18 months rather than a real drop in filing.
IPC subclass composition
B01D separation processes dominate at 84.3% of all 998 records. Water treatment (C02F, 9.2%), inorganic compounds (C01B, 5.7%) and polymer processing (C08J, 3.2%) appear as secondary classes — a record can carry more than one class, so these shares add up past 100%.
Shares are the percentage of the 998 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Membranes & Separation Polymers — Mixed-Matrix Gas-Separation Membranes Patent Landscape with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about membranes & separation polymers — mixed-matrix gas-separation membranes patent landscape and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaKey patents shaping the claim landscape
US7306647B2 — Mixed matrix membrane with mesoporous particles and methods for making and using the same
A mixed matrix membrane for separating gas components from a mixture of gas components is disclosed. The membrane comprises a continuous phase polymer with inorganic porous particles, preferably molecular sieves, interspersed in the polymer. The polymer has a CO2/CH4 selectivity of at least 20 and the porous particles have a mesoporosity of at least 0.1 cc STP/g. The mixed matrix membrane exhibits an increase in permeability of at least 30% with any decrease in selectivity being no more than 10% relative to a membrane made of the neat polymer.Filed by Chevron U.S.A., published 2007-12-11 — a claim structure defined by measurable performance thresholds rather than a specific filler chemistry alone.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US6508860B1 | Gas separation membrane with organosilicon-treated molecular sieve | 226 |
| 2 | US6755900B2 | Crosslinked and crosslinkable hollow fiber mixed matrix membrane and method of making same | 155 |
| 3 | US4740219A | Separation of fluids by means of mixed matrix membranes | 151 |
| 4 | US20070022877A1 | Ordered mesopore silica mixed matrix membranes, and production methods for making ordered mesopore silica mix… | 150 |
| 5 | US6500233B1 | Purification of p-xylene using composite mixed matrix membranes | 150 |
| 6 | US20100062156A1 | Reverse Osmosis Membranes | 145 |
| 7 | US20090277837A1 | Fluoropolymer Coated Membranes | 145 |
| 8 | US5127925A | Separation of gases by means of mixed matrix membranes | 143 |
| 9 | US8177978B2 | Reverse osmosis membranes | 139 |
| 10 | US7410525B1 | Mixed matrix membranes incorporating microporous polymers as fillers | 139 |
Citation counts favour older filings that have had more time to accumulate citations within this corpus; treat them as a signal of influence on later filings, not of current commercial relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
Put your own technology through the same analysis
Eureka on the web
When you want the answer in the next five minutes.
The agent works the prompt against patents and technical literature, citing every source.
Run your analysis now →MCP server & REST API
When it has to run inside your own pipeline.
Patent search, landscape analysis and assignee resolution as MCP tools. Drop them into any agent framework, or call REST directly.
Browse MCP servers →What the data means for a filing decision
Three patterns worth acting on before drafting a new application in this space.
Leadership is defined but not closed
The top five assignees hold 27.0% of the 998 records in scope, and the top ten hold 40.9%. That leaves close to 60% of filings spread across a long tail of single- and few-filing entrants — real headroom exists outside the leadership group, particularly for filler chemistries or duty-specific claims the leaders have not covered.
Post-peak cooling, not collapse
Filing volume eased from a 2021 peak of 85 to 70 in 2024, an 18% pullback. That is consistent with core filler-polymer combinations reaching broad coverage rather than the field losing commercial interest; 2025-26 figures will revise upward as publication catches up.
Separation-process claims dwarf formulation claims
B01D covers 84.3% of records, while C08J (polymer processing and solutions) sits at just 3.2%. Formulation- and processing-level claims — how the filler is dispersed, cured or compatibilized within the polymer matrix — are comparatively under-filed relative to the separation-performance claims built on top of them.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to membranes & separation polymers — mixed-matrix gas-separation membranes patent landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to specific follow-up work depending on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, portfolio strategy or technology scouting.
Map claim boundaries around the leader's portfolio
With 89 records concentrated in one assignee, a claim-by-claim review of that portfolio against any planned filing is the fastest way to find genuine white space versus already-occupied ground.
Explore assignee claims in Eureka →Track the formulation-processing gap
C08J polymer processing sits at only 3.2% of records against an 84.3% B01D base — a candidate area for new filings if the underlying chemistry supports a distinct processing claim.
Run a white-space search in Eureka →Revisit the trend once 2025-26 data settles
Publication lag means the most recent two years understate true filing activity; re-checking the trend in a future cut will clarify whether the post-2021 pullback continues or reverses.
Set up a monitoring alert in Eureka →Common questions on mixed-matrix membrane patents
The dataset in scope for this landscape contains 998 published records filed between 2015 and mid-2026. This covers filings indexed under mixed-matrix membrane, MMM gas separation and related polymer-filler membrane terms, combined with polymer or selective membrane separation terms. The true worldwide total is likely somewhat higher once records outside this search string and time window are counted, and the most recent one to two years are understated due to publication lag.
The ranking covers 100 assignees, with the leader holding 89 records against 33 for fifth place and 25 for tenth — a clear leadership gap rather than a flat field. The top five assignees combined hold 27.0% of all 998 records, and the top ten hold 40.9%, leaving close to 60% of filings spread across a long tail of smaller filers. This is a concentrated-but-not-closed field: a defined leadership group exists, but most records sit outside it.
Filing rose from 41 records in 2017 to a peak of 85 in 2021, then eased to 70 by 2024 — an 18% decline over that three-year span. This looks like a maturing filing pattern around core filler-polymer chemistries rather than a collapse in interest. Counts for 2025 and 2026 appear lower still in the raw data, but that reflects the roughly 18-month lag between filing and publication, not a real drop-off.
US7306647B2, assigned to Chevron U.S.A. and published in 2007, claims a mixed-matrix membrane defined by measurable performance thresholds: a base polymer with CO2/CH4 selectivity of at least 20, porous particles with mesoporosity of at least 0.1 cc STP/g, and a resulting permeability increase of at least 30% with no more than a 10% selectivity loss versus the neat polymer. It names mesoporous particles including certain molecular sieves as examples but is not limited to them. Anyone filing a new mixed-matrix membrane claim in this performance range should check this patent's claim scope directly rather than assuming novelty from a different filler chemistry alone.
IPC composition shows separation-process claims (B01D) covering 84.3% of the 998 records, while formulation and processing classes such as C08J polymer processing sit at only 3.2%. That gap suggests filler-polymer compatibilization, dispersion control and processing-method claims are comparatively thin relative to end-performance separation claims. A first claim in this space would likely center on a specific interfacial treatment or processing step rather than a new filler-polymer pairing alone, since pairing-level claims already sit on denser prior art.
Research Membranes & Separation Polymers — Mixed-Matrix Gas-Separation Membranes Patent Landscape in depth with Eureka
Go past this page: query the whole membranes & separation polymers — mixed-matrix gas-separation membranes patent landscape corpus yourself, in your own scope.
Every answer comes back with patent numbers you can open.
Disclaimer. This page is generated from Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company’s registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.