A porous composition comprising a porous organic polymer (POP) fiber having a diameter of at least 100 nm and a length of at least 1 mm and pores having a size within a range of 10 nm to 5 microns distributed over the surface and volume of the POP fiber, wherein the organic polymer is insoluble in water and may be selected from, e.g., polyolefins, polyesters, polyamides, and polyacrylonitrile. Also described herein is a method for producing a POP fiber comprising: (i) forming a precursor fiber from a blend of an organic polymer and lignin, wherein the lignin is present in the form of domains within the precursor fiber; and (ii) washing the precursor fiber with a solvent that dissolves the lignin to result in the POP fiber. Also described herein is a method for removing oil from an oil-water mixture comprising contacting the oil-water mixture with the POP fibers.

A porous composition comprising a porous organic polymer (POP) fiber having a diameter of at least 100 nm and a length of at least 1 mm and pores having a size within a range of 10 nm to 5 microns distributed over the surface and volume of the POP fiber, wherein the organic polymer is insoluble in water and may be selected from, e.g., polyolefins, polyesters, polyamides, and polyacrylonitrile. Also described herein is a method for producing a POP fiber comprising: (i) forming a precursor fiber from a blend of an organic polymer and lignin, wherein the lignin is present in the form of domains within the precursor fiber; and (ii) washing the precursor fiber with a solvent that dissolves the lignin to result in the POP fiber. Also described herein is a method for removing oil from an oil-water mixture comprising contacting the oil-water mixture with the POP fibers.

The present invention includes a hydrogel and a method of making a porous hydrogel by preparing an aqueous mixture of an uncrosslinked polymer and a crystallizable molecule; casting the mixture into a vessel; allowing the cast mixture to dry to form an amorphous hydrogel film; seeding the cast mixture with a seed crystal of the crystallizable molecule; growing the crystallizable molecule into a crystal structure within the uncrosslinked polymer; crosslinking the polymer around the crystal structure under conditions in which the crystal structure within the crosslinked polymer is maintained; and dissolving the crystals within the crosslinked polymer to form the porous hydrogel.

The present invention includes a hydrogel and a method of making a porous hydrogel by preparing an aqueous mixture of an uncrosslinked polymer and a crystallizable molecule; casting the mixture into a vessel; allowing the cast mixture to dry to form an amorphous hydrogel film; seeding the cast mixture with a seed crystal of the crystallizable molecule; growing the crystallizable molecule into a crystal structure within the uncrosslinked polymer; crosslinking the polymer around the crystal structure under conditions in which the crystal structure within the crosslinked polymer is maintained; and dissolving the crystals within the crosslinked polymer to form the porous hydrogel.

A resin microparticle production method includes a step of pulverizing resin particles having a thermoplastic resin as a forming material and having a BET specific surface area of equal to or more than 5 m.sup.2/g using an impact type pulverizer.

A ceramic resin is provided, along with its methods of formation and use. The ceramic resin may include a crosslinkable precursor, a photoinitiator, ceramic particles, and pore forming particles. The ceramic resin may be utilized to form a ceramic casting element, such as via a method that includes forming a layer of the ceramic resin; applying light onto the ceramic resin such that the photoinitiator initiates polymerization of the crosslinkable precursor to form a crosslinked polymeric matrix setting the ceramic particles and the pore forming particles; and thereafter, heating the crosslinked polymeric matrix to a first temperature to burn out the pore forming particles.

A ceramic resin is provided, along with its methods of formation and use. The ceramic resin may include a crosslinkable precursor, a photoinitiator, ceramic particles, and pore forming particles. The ceramic resin may be utilized to form a ceramic casting element, such as via a method that includes forming a layer of the ceramic resin; applying light onto the ceramic resin such that the photoinitiator initiates polymerization of the crosslinkable precursor to form a crosslinked polymeric matrix setting the ceramic particles and the pore forming particles; and thereafter, heating the crosslinked polymeric matrix to a first temperature to burn out the pore forming particles.

[Problem to be Solved]

Provided is a polyvinylidene fluoride resin-made porous membrane having excellent hydrophilicity, permeability, and fouling resistance and having suppressed elution of vinyl ether copolymer by using a small amount of vinyl ether copolymer.

[Means to Solve the Problem]

The porous membrane according to the invention comprises a polyvinylidene fluoride resin as a matrix material and a vinyl ether copolymer, wherein the vinyl ether copolymer is a copolymer of an oxyethylene group-containing vinyl ether monomer and a hydrocarbon group-containing vinyl ether monomer.

Porous polymeric materials having a very high content of thermally conductive and/or electrically conductive fillers. Process for the preparation of the porous composite material including at least one binder-forming polymeric phase and one or more fillers, this process including the stages of hot mixing, by the molten route, the polymeric phase, the fillers and a sacrificial polymeric phase, so as to obtain a mixture, of shaping the mixture and of removing the sacrificial polymeric phase.

Porous polymeric materials having a very high content of thermally conductive and/or electrically conductive fillers. Process for the preparation of the porous composite material including at least one binder-forming polymeric phase and one or more fillers, this process including the stages of hot mixing, by the molten route, the polymeric phase, the fillers and a sacrificial polymeric phase, so as to obtain a mixture, of shaping the mixture and of removing the sacrificial polymeric phase.