Seed crystals are crystals of zeolite to be attached onto a support in production of a zeolite membrane complex including the support and a zeolite membrane formed on the support. The specific surface area of the seed crystals is not smaller than 10 m.sup.2/g and not larger than 150 m.sup.2/g. The strength obtained from a crystal component at a diffraction angle 2 indicating a maximum peak in a range of diffraction angle 2 from 12 to 25 in an X-ray diffraction pattern obtained by emitting X-ray to the seed crystals is not less than once and not more than 30 times that obtained from an amorphous component. It is thereby possible to improve adherence of the seed crystals to the support.

The present invention provides a preparation method for a composite porous structure, comprising the following steps: step (a): preparing a porous substrate having multiple pores, a first surface and a second surface; and step (b): continuously feeding a cooling fluid to contact the first surface and to flow continuously to the second surface through the pores of the porous substrate, and heating a coating material to multiple molten particles by a heat source and spraying the molten particles onto the second surface of the porous substrate, so as to form a coating layer having multiple micropores on the second surface of the porous substrate and obtain the composite porous structure formed. Besides, also provided is a composite porous structure prepared by the preparation method.

A method for producing a nanostructure or an article having at least a nanostructured portion includes obtaining a colloidal suspension of sheets of material for forming nanoparticles, the sheets being less than four atomic layers thick and the colloidal suspension having a preselected concentration of the sheets of material suspended therein; supplying the colloidal suspension to an electro-hydrodynamic system, the electro-hydrodynamic system including a spray nozzle, a ground electrode spaced apart from the spray nozzle, and a high voltage DC power supply electrically connected to the spray nozzle and the ground electrode, the high voltage DC Power supply being suitable for supplying at least a 0.05 kV/cm electric field between the spray nozzle and the ground electrode; providing a substrate arranged between the spray nozzle and the ground electrode such that droplets from the spray nozzle are directed to the substrate to deposit nanostructures thereon; and applying a DC voltage using the high voltage DC power supply between the spray nozzle and the ground electrode such that charged droplets from the spray nozzle are repelled from the spray nozzle and attracted towards the substrate. The DC voltage is selected such that the droplets have sizes sufficiently small to result in substantially isolated sheets within each droplet.

Articles are described including a first microfiltration membrane layer having a first major surface and a second major surface disposed opposite the first major surface, and a first silica layer directly attached to the first major surface of the first microfiltration membrane layer. The first silica layer includes a polymeric binder and acid-sintered interconnected silica nanoparticles arranged to form a continuous three-dimensional porous network. A method of making an article is also described, including providing a first microfiltration membrane layer having a first major surface and a second major surface disposed opposite the first major surface, and forming a first silica layer on the first major surface.

Zeolite membrane sheets for separation of mixtures containing water are provided, as well as methods for making the same. Thin, but robust, zeolite membrane sheets having an inter-grown zeolite crystal film directly on a thin, less than 200 micron thick, porous support sheet free of any surface pores with a size above 10 microns. The zeolite membrane film thickness is less than about 10 microns above the support surface and less than about 5 microns below the support surface. Methods of preparing the membrane are disclosed which include coating of the support sheet surface with a seed coating solution containing the parent zeolite crystals with mean particle sizes from about 0.5 to 2.0 microns at loading of 0.05-0.5 mg/cm2 and subsequent growth of the seeded sheet in a growth reactor loaded with a growth solution over a temperature range of about 45 C. to about 120 C.

A method for preparing a super-hydrophobic membrane by cleaning a metal mesh by immersion in an organic solvent; subjecting the cleaned metal mesh to a surface modification treatment to increase its hydrophilicity; coating the treated metal mesh with a hydrophobic organic substance; and drying the metal coated mesh for obtaining the super-hydrophobic membrane. The super-hydrophobic membrane obtained thereby.

A method for preparing a palladium-gold alloy layer on a substrate by electrodepositing said coating surface with an aqueous electroplating solution comprising of an aqueous solution of a soluble palladium compound and a soluble gold complex, wherein the ratio of gold to palladium to in the solution is from 5 to 40 w/w %. Also taught is a substrate such as a vanadium or vanadium alloy gas separation membrane coated with a palladium-gold alloy layer.

Zeolite membrane sheets for separation of mixtures containing water are provided, as well as methods for making the same. Thin, but robust, zeolite membrane sheets having an inter-grown zeolite crystal film directly on a thin, less than 200 micron thick, porous support sheet free of any surface pores with a size above 10 microns. The zeolite membrane film thickness is less than about 10 microns above the support surface and less than about 5 microns below the support surface. Methods of preparing the membrane are disclosed which include coating of the support sheet surface with a seed coating solution containing the parent zeolite crystals with mean particle sizes from about 0.5 to 2.0 microns at loading of 0.05-0.5 mg/cm2 and subsequent growth of the seeded sheet in a growth reactor loaded with a growth solution over a temperature range of about 45? C. to about 120? C.

Disclosed is a method for producing a palladium-based permeation membrane which is suitable for the separation of hydrogen from gas-gas or liquid-gas mixtures. The permeation membrane is produced by applying a palladium complex, dissolved in a solvent, to a nanoporous support system having pores in a size range of from 0.5 nm to 50 nm, removing the solvent by drying, removing of organic constituents of the palladium complex by a heat treatment, and carrying out a final heat treatment under reducing conditions at a temperature ranging from about 300? C. to about 900? C.

Mesoporous membranes have shown promising separation performance with a potential to lower the energy consumption, leading to a dramatic cost reduction. Recently, an extensive effort has been made on the design of membranes which brought a significant progress toward the synthesis of well-defined porous morphologies, most of which synthesized by surfactant-template methodology. Currently, the most well-designed state-of-the-art membranes using this technique are made from metals, polymers, carbon, silica, etc. In the present invention, we demonstrate mesoporous calcium-silicate particles having superior separation capacity and optimal permeability, thereby leading to reduced energy consumption for selective separation of gases/liquids and/or the combination thereof. We explore various methods to improve the calcium-silicate membranes properties by tuning pore density during the synthesis/aging process, while favoring the formation of uniformly distributed nanopores. Lowering particle density by controlling calcium to silicon ratio along with optimizing the surface area are essential in achieving our objective.