Disclosed are a micropore-filled amphoteric membrane for low vanadium ion permeability, a method of manufacturing the same, and a vanadium redox flow battery including the amphoteric membrane. The micropore-filled amphoteric membrane for low vanadium ion permeability minimizes crossover of vanadium ions, which occurs between a catholyte and an anolyte in a redox flow battery, and has low membrane resistance and thus has remarkably improved performance as compared to commercially available ion-exchange membranes such as Nafion, and accordingly, can be effectively used in the manufacture of a redox flow battery. In addition, the micropore-filled amphoteric membrane is continuously manufactured through a roll-to-roll process, and thus the manufacturing process is simple and manufacturing costs can be greatly reduced.

The present invention provides novel and improved protein purification processes which incorporate certain types of carbonaceous materials and result in effective and selective removal of certain undesirable impurities without adversely affecting the yield of the desired protein product.

The present invention provides novel and improved protein purification processes which incorporate certain types of carbonaceous materials and result in effective and selective removal of certain undesirable impurities without adversely affecting the yield of the desired protein product.

A nanoscale ionic material composition, such as but not limited to a nanoscale ionic solid material composition, a nanoscale ionic gel material composition or a nanoscale ionic liquid material composition, may be prepared using an acid/base reaction directly between: (1) one of an acid functional and a base functional inorganic metal oxide nanoparticle core absent an organofunctional corona; and (2) a corresponding complementary one of a basic and acidic functional organic polymer material canopy. Desirably, the nanoscale ionic material composition is formed absent an intervening chemical functionalization process step with respect to the inorganic metal oxide nanoparticle core that provides the corona, such as but not limited to a silane coupling agent chemical functionalization process step with respect to the inorganic metal oxide nanoparticle core to provide the corona.

A nanoscale ionic material composition, such as but not limited to a nanoscale ionic solid material composition, a nanoscale ionic gel material composition or a nanoscale ionic liquid material composition, may be prepared using an acid/base reaction directly between: (1) one of an acid functional and a base functional inorganic metal oxide nanoparticle core absent an organofunctional corona; and (2) a corresponding complementary one of a basic and acidic functional organic polymer material canopy. Desirably, the nanoscale ionic material composition is formed absent an intervening chemical functionalization process step with respect to the inorganic metal oxide nanoparticle core that provides the corona, such as but not limited to a silane coupling agent chemical functionalization process step with respect to the inorganic metal oxide nanoparticle core to provide the corona.

A process is described for making acrylic acid from dextrose, which comprises fermenting dextrose; removing solids from the resulting fermentation broth; removing lactic acid from the clarified broth by extraction into an organic solvent; separating out the lactic acid-loaded organic solvent while recycling at least a portion of the remainder back to the fermentation step; reacting the lactic acid with ammonia to provide a dehydration feed comprising ammonium lactate while preferably recycling the organic solvent; carrying out a vapor phase dehydration of the ammonium lactate to produce a crude acrylic acid product; and purifying the crude acrylic acid by distillation followed by melt crystallization, chromatography or both melt crystallization and chromatography.

A process is described for making acrylic acid from dextrose, which comprises fermenting dextrose; removing solids from the resulting fermentation broth; removing lactic acid from the clarified broth by extraction into an organic solvent; separating out the lactic acid-loaded organic solvent while recycling at least a portion of the remainder back to the fermentation step; reacting the lactic acid with ammonia to provide a dehydration feed comprising ammonium lactate while preferably recycling the organic solvent; carrying out a vapor phase dehydration of the ammonium lactate to produce a crude acrylic acid product; and purifying the crude acrylic acid by distillation followed by melt crystallization, chromatography or both melt crystallization and chromatography.

A desulfurizer material for desulfurizing fuel supplied to a fuel cell system, the desulfurizer material comprising one or more manganese oxide materials having an octahedral molecular sieve (OMS) structure, and the desulfurizer material being resistant to moisture and being capable of removing organic sulfur containing compounds and H.sub.2S. The desulfurizer material is used in a desulfurizer assembly which is used as part of a fuel cell system.

A desulfurizer material for desulfurizing fuel supplied to a fuel cell system, the desulfurizer material comprising one or more manganese oxide materials having an octahedral molecular sieve (OMS) structure, and the desulfurizer material being resistant to moisture and being capable of removing organic sulfur containing compounds and H.sub.2S. The desulfurizer material is used in a desulfurizer assembly which is used as part of a fuel cell system.

The present invention is directed to a ligated metal-organic framework (MOF) for use in removing both anionic and cationic species from a liquid or liquid stream. The present invention also provides methods for placing the MOF on a substrate to form a MOF-containing product that can be used in the removal of certain species from a given fluid. The MOF may be a Zr-based MOF, such as NU-1000, for removal of certain anions, such as oxy-anions, or having an attached thiosulfonyl-thiol (—SO.sub.2—S—R.sub.2—SH, where R.sub.2 is an alkyl group) ligand for complexation with certain cationic species in addition to the anions. The substrate may be any substrate to which a given MOF may be attached, including inert polypropylene polymer resin beads, a macroscopic fabric such as a mesh material or mesh filter, and a molecular fabric.