A heat insulating material includes an aerogel that has macro-pores and meso-pores. A method for manufacturing a heat insulating material, including: a sol preparation step of adding a gelling agent into sodium silicate such that a molar ratio of the gelling agent relative to NaO.sub.2 is 0.1 to 0.75, and adjusting a sol into which macro-pores are introduced by leaving unreacted Na and non-cross-linked oxygen in a siloxane skeleton; an impregnating and gelling step of impregnating a nonwoven fabric fiber structure with the sol to form a composite of hydrogel-nonwoven fabric fiber; a hydrophobizating step of mixing the formed composite of hydrogel-nonwoven fabric fiber with a silylating agent to modify a surface thereof; and a drying step of removing a liquid contained in the surface modified composite of hydrogel-nonwoven fabric fiber by drying under a temperature and pressure lower than respective critical values.

A polymer bilayer includes a layer of a porous fluoropolymer directly overlying a layer of polyethylene. The polyethylene layer may be porous or dense and may include an ultra-high molecular weight polymer. The polymer bilayer may be co-integrated with structures (e.g., wearable devices) exposed to high thermal loads (>0-1000 W/m.sup.2) and provide passive cooling thereof. For instance, passive cooling of AR/VR glasses under different solar loads may be achieved by a polymer bilayer that is both highly reflective across solar heating wavelengths and highly emissive in the long-wavelength infrared. The high reflectance decreases energy absorption across the solar spectrum while the high emissivity promotes radiative heat transfer to the surroundings.

Provided is a functional laminate including a porous intermediate layer having air permeability laminated between a porous surface layer and a resin foamed layer, the porous intermediate layer having an affinity to a foaming resin forming the resin foamed layer.

A passivating flexible insulation blanket positionable about a pipe includes an insulation core, an enclosing fabric, and a non-consumable passivator. The insulation core is substantially hydrophobic and includes a microporous material. The enclosing fabric fully encapsulates the insulation core to form a capsule or pouch about the insulation core. The non-consumable passivator is non-consumable such that there is no appreciable change to a mass of the non-consumable passivator after an extended time of activation. The non-consumable passivator is deposited into the insulation core and has a composition soluble in water. The non-consumable passivator includes a leachable component that leaches from the insulation core and is capable of neutralizing acidic components. The leachable component is water soluble and is capable of reacting with a surface of the pipe to form a protective coating on the pipe to aid in inhibiting corrosion formation on the surface of the pipe.

A laminate comprises one or more electrically-conductive layers and one or more electrically-insulative layers coupled to the electrically-conductive layer(s). Each of the electrically-conductive layer(s) can comprise at least 90% by weight of copper. Each of the electrically-insulative layer(s) can comprise a layer of polymeric aerogel. For at least one of opposing front and back surfaces of the laminate, at least a portion of the surface is defined by one of the electrically-conductive layer(s).

Methods of making blended, isoporous, asymmetric (graded) films (e.g. ultrafiltration membranes) comprising two or more chemically distinct block copolymers and blended, isoporous, asymmetric (graded) films (e.g. ultrafiltration membranes) comprising two or more chemically distinct block copolymers. The generation of blended membranes by mixing two chemically distinct block copolymers in the casting solution demonstrates a pathway to advanced asymmetric block copolymer derived films, which can be used as ultrafiltration membranes, in which different pore surface chemistries and associated functionalities can be integrated into a single membrane via standard membrane fabrication, i.e. without requiring laborious post-fabrication modification steps. The block copolymers may be diblock, triblock and/or multiblock mixes and some block copolymers in the mix may be functionally modified. Triblock copolymers comprising a reactive group (e.g., sulfhydryl group) terminated block and films comprising the triblock copolymers.

A passivating flexible insulation blanket positionable about a pipe includes an insulation core, an enclosing fabric, and a non-consumable passivator. The insulation core is substantially hydrophobic and includes a microporous material. The enclosing fabric fully encapsulates the insulation core to form a capsule or pouch about the insulation core. The non-consumable passivator is non-consumable such that there is no appreciable change to a mass of the non-consumable passivator after an extended time of activation. The non-consumable passivator is deposited into the insulation core and has a composition soluble in water. The non-consumable passivator includes a leachable component that leaches from the insulation core and is capable of neutralizing acidic components. The leachable component is water soluble and is capable of reacting with a surface of the pipe to form a protective coating on the pipe to aid in inhibiting corrosion formation on the surface of the pipe.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a polyolefin microporous membrane, including: a first porous layer containing a polyolefin and having a structure including a first rod-shaped crystal extending in one direction and plural first plate-shaped crystals arranged in a separated state and intersecting the first rod-shaped crystal, and a second porous layer containing a polyolefin and having a structure including a second rod-shaped crystal extending in another direction intersecting the one direction and plural second plate-shaped crystals arranged in a separated state and intersecting the second rod-shaped crystal.

The present invention provides compositions and methods related to aerogel materials, including polyimide-based aerogels. In particular, aerogel materials optimized to have certain physical and chemical properties such as flexural and compressive strength are provided. In some embodiments, the aerogel materials can be at least partially carbonized.

The present disclosure can provide aerogel compositions which have a thermal storage capacity, and which are durable and easy to handle. The present disclosure can provide aerogel compositions which include PCM coatings, particle mixtures, or PCM materials confined within the porous network of an aerogel composition. The present disclosure can provide methods for producing aerogel compositions by coating an aerogel composition with PCM materials, by forming particle mixtures with PCM materials, or by confining PCM materials within the porous network of an aerogel composition.