Embodiments of the present invention describe a method for manufacture of a gel material comprising the steps of: forming a gel sheet by dispensing a gel precursor mixture; allowing gelation to occur to the gel precursor mixture; and cooling the formed gel with a cooling system to control reaction rate.

A copper foil, intended for use as a current collector in a lithium-containing electrode for a lithium-based electrochemical cell, is subjected to a series of chemical oxidation and reduction processing steps to form a field of integral copper wires extending outwardly from the surfaces of the current collector (and from the copper content of the foil) to be coated with a resin-bonded porous layer of particles of active electrode material. The copper wires serve to anchor thicker layers of porous electrode material and enhance liquid electrolyte contact with the electrode particles and the current collector to improve the energy output of the cell and its useful life.

A composition comprising nano- or micro-particles grafted onto a surface are disclosed. Process of preparing the compositions and methods of using the same, such as for anti-fogging, anti-fouling and anti-scratching are provided.

A support member for a thermal processing chamber is described. The support member has a sol coating on at least one surface. The sol coating contains a material that blocks a desired wavelength or spectrum of radiation from being transmitted by the material of the support member. The sol coating may be a multi-layer structure that may include adhesion layers, transition layers, and cap layers, in addition to radiation-blocking layers.

A grain-oriented electrical steel sheet includes: a base steel sheet; an intermediate layer arranged in contact with the base steel sheet; and an insulation coating arranged in contact with the intermediate layer to be an outermost surface, in which the intermediate layer has a local oxidized area when viewing a cross section whose cutting direction is parallel to a thickness direction, and a thickness of the intermediate layer in an area where the local oxidized area is included is 50 nm or more, and a thickness of the intermediate layer in an area where the local oxidized area is not included is less than 50 nm.

Methods are provided for selectively depositing a material on a first surface of a substrate relative to a second, different surface of the substrate. The selectively deposited material can be, for example, a metal, metal oxide, or dielectric material.

A copper foil, intended for use as a current collector in a lithium-containing electrode for a lithium-based electrochemical cell, is subjected to a series of chemical oxidation and reduction processing steps to form a field of integral copper wires extending outwardly from the surfaces of the current collector (and from the copper content of the foil) to be coated with a resin-bonded porous layer of particles of active electrode material. The copper wires serve to anchor thicker layers of porous electrode material and enhance liquid electrolyte contact with the electrode particles and the current collector to improve the energy output of the cell and its useful life.

Embodiments of the present invention describe a method for continuous manufacture of a gel material comprising the steps of: forming a gel sheet by dispensing a gel precursor mixture onto a moving element; allowing gelation to occur to the gel precursor mixture; and cooling the formed gel with a cooling system, thereby reducing the rate of solvent evaporation therefrom.

Aqueous antimicrobial coating compositions are disclosed comprising at least one organosilane homopolymer, present as a distribution of polymer chain lengths, and optionally at least one amine. A method of preparing an antimicrobial coating comprises coating a surface with the aqueous antimicrobial coating composition and allowing the composition to dry into a film that exhibits residual antimicrobial efficacy against microorganisms even after mechanical abrasion of the coating. The organosilane homopolymer may comprise only 3-aminopropylsilanetriol homopolymer, mixtures of 3-aminopropylsilanetriol homopolymer, 3-chloropropylsilanetriol homopolymer and 3-(trihydroxysilyl)propyl dimethyloctadecyl ammonium chloride homopolymer, or any one of various unique organosilane homopolymers having multiple amine functionality.

Provided are a member that reduces a change in refractive index at high humidity (60% RH or more and less than 90% RH) and a method of manufacturing the member. The member comprises a base material and a porous layer formed on at least any one of surfaces of the base material, wherein the porous layer has dN.sub.2 of 5 nm or more and 20 nm or less and dH.sub.2O of 25 nm or more and 75 nm or less, and has a contact angle with respect to water of less than 60, in which dN.sub.2 is defined as a diameter of a pore at a time when a differential pore volume becomes maximum in the differential pore distribution in nitrogen adsorption and dH.sub.2O is defined as a diameter of a pore at a time when a differential pore volume becomes maximum in the differential pore distribution in water vapor adsorption.