The present disclosure relates to a method of preparing ceramic filtration membranes with a low defect rate and improved filtration performances. The ceramic filtration membranes have a layered structure, wherein the layers are concerted to generate an improved filtration performance.

A membrane-based desorption cooling method for passive thermal management is presented. The module includes: (i) a covering layer for thermally conducting and transferring heat from a device to a solution; (ii) a solution layer for confining H.sub.2O/absorbent mixtures in a multi-compartment frame; (iii) a membrane layer configured to act as an interface between the solution and air; and (iv) a supporting layer configured to increase the mechanical strength and including apertures to permit mass transfer from the membrane through the supporting layer. The present membrane-based desorption cooling module is able to be used for thermal management of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, electronics, batteries, or any other devices that require heat removal.

Embodiments of the present disclosure feature an intrinsically microporous ladder-type Tröger's base polymer including a repeat unit based on a combination of W-shaped CANAL-type and V-shaped Tröger's base building blocks, methods of making the intrinsically microporous ladder-type Tröger's base polymer, and methods of using the intrinsically microporous ladder-type Tröger's base polymer to separate a chemical species from a fluid composition including a mixture of chemical species. Embodiments of the present disclosure further include ladder-type diamine monomers for reacting to form a Tröger's base in situ, and methods of making the ladder-type diamine monomers using catalytic arene-norbornene annulation.

A microporous membrane has average membrane thickness of 15 μm or less, and relative impedance A after a heat compression treatment under a pressure of 4.0 MPa at 80° C. for 10 minutes of 140% or less, the relative impedance A being obtained by the equation below: Relative impedance A=(impedance measured at 80° C. after the heat compression treatment)/(impedance measured at room temperature prior to the heat compression treatment)×100.

Described are platforms, systems, media, and methods for maintaining a database of items associated with one or more skill requirements and a visit duration; maintaining a database of experts associated with one or more skill proficiencies, a location, and a schedule; receiving a request from a consumer for delivery by an expert of one or more items in the database to a consumer address; identifying experts in the database having skill proficiencies matching the skill requirements of the one or more items and available in a timeslot for the visit duration of the one or more items; presenting timeslots for which one or more experts are identified to the consumer and allowing the consumer to select a timeslot; and selecting an expert from among the identified experts in the selected timeslot based on shortest travel time; provided that utilization of the selected expert exceeds a predetermined utilization threshold.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a carbon molecular sieve membrane (and precursors therefor) including a pyrolysis product of an oxygen-free ladder polymer of intrinsic microporosity. Embodiments of the present disclosure further provide a method of gas separation including contacting a fluid including one or more gas components with a carbon molecular sieve membrane, wherein the carbon molecular sieve membrane includes a pyrolysis product of an oxygen-free ladder polymer of intrinsic microporosity, and separating at least one of said gas components from the fluid. Embodiments of the present disclosure further provide a method of preparing a carbon molecular sieve membrane including heating an oxygen-free ladder polymer of intrinsic microporosity to a pyrolysis temperature in an oxygen-free atmosphere to form, optionally without producing any oxygen-containing gas, a pyrolysis product.

The present invention relates to a separation membrane including a thermoplastic polymer selected from a cellulose ester and a polyamide, in which, when regions obtained by dividing a cross-sectional surface perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the separation membrane into 5 at an equal interval are defined as regions 1 to 5, all the regions 1 to 5 have a number average pore diameter changing rate α.sub.i of −0.25 to 0.25, and at least one of the regions 1 to 5 is a region P that satisfies conditions (a) and (b): (a) a value of area average pore diameter D.sub.s/number average pore diameter D.sub.n is 2.50 to 6.00; and (b) a number average W of fine pores that are located at a distance smaller than L.sub.a from a center of respective coarse pores is 10 to 30.

The present invention relates to cellulose based papers coated with nitrocellulose as well as to methods for producing such coated papers and methods for using them, especially in lateral flow applications.

The present invention provides a method of culturing an alga that enables practical realization of low-cost and space-saving production of biofuels and bioenergy by culturing the alga using a reaction tank equipped with a digestive solution tank comprising digestive solution containing high concentration of nutrient salts, a membrane with a pore size of 0.45 .Math.m or less and a culture tank comprising culture solution and the alga, which comprises consuming the nutrient salts by the alga in the culture tank to maintain the difference in concentration the nutrient salts between the digestive solution tank and the culture tank and supplying the nutrient salts contained in the digestive solution through the membrane into the culture solution by the diffusion depending on the concentration difference as well as an alga culture system therefor.

An air remediation device includes a housing including an internal chamber, an inlet, an outlet, and a potting material dividing said internal chamber into a first compartment and a second compartment. At least one hollow fiber membrane is supported by the potting material and held in the first compartment. Airborne viral particles are directed (a) through the inlet into the first compartment and then (b) through the at least one hollow fiber membrane, where the airborne viral particles are captured to produce treated air, and then the treated air is directed (c) through the second compartment before being exhausted from the housing through the outlet.