A porous membrane comprising stacked layers of nanosheets, each nanosheet comprising one to three atomic layers of a 2D material comprising or consisting of one or more transition metal dichalcogenides is provided. The nanosheets have pores and the membrane comprises a network of water permeation pathways including through-pathways formed by the pores, horizontal pathways formed by gaps between the layers, and vertical pathways formed by gaps between adjacent nanosheets and stacking defects between the layers. Also provided is a method for making the membrane.

A porous membrane comprising stacked layers of nanosheets, each nanosheet comprising one to three atomic layers of a 2D material comprising or consisting of one or more transition metal dichalcogenides is provided. The nanosheets have pores and the membrane comprises a network of water permeation pathways including through-pathways formed by the pores, horizontal pathways formed by gaps between the layers, and vertical pathways formed by gaps between adjacent nanosheets and stacking defects between the layers. Also provided is a method for making the membrane.

The present invention pertains to a process for preparing particles of rare earth sulfide comprising the steps of:—preparing a reaction mixture comprising at least one compound comprising at least one rare earth element (A) and at least one alkali metal sulfide (B),—submitting said reaction mixture to a mechanical stress so as to cause a chemical reaction that produces the particles of rare earth sulfide.

The method of manufacturing a sulfide-based inorganic solid electrolyte material, including: (A) preparing a sulfide-based inorganic solid electrolyte material in a vitreous state; and (B) annealing the sulfide-based inorganic solid electrolyte material in the vitreous state using a heating unit. Step (B) includes a step (B1) of disposing the sulfide-based inorganic solid electrolyte material in the vitreous state in a heating space, a step (B2) of annealing the sulfide-based inorganic solid electrolyte material in the vitreous state disposed in the heating space while increasing a temperature of the heating unit from an initial temperature T.sub.0 to an annealing temperature T.sub.1, and a step (B3) of annealing the sulfide-based inorganic solid electrolyte material in the vitreous state disposed in the heating space at the annealing temperature T.sub.1, and a temperature increase rate from the initial temperature T.sub.0 to the annealing temperature T.sub.1 in the step (B2) is 2° C./min or higher.

The method of manufacturing a sulfide-based inorganic solid electrolyte material, including: (A) preparing a sulfide-based inorganic solid electrolyte material in a vitreous state; and (B) annealing the sulfide-based inorganic solid electrolyte material in the vitreous state using a heating unit. Step (B) includes a step (B1) of disposing the sulfide-based inorganic solid electrolyte material in the vitreous state in a heating space, a step (B2) of annealing the sulfide-based inorganic solid electrolyte material in the vitreous state disposed in the heating space while increasing a temperature of the heating unit from an initial temperature T.sub.0 to an annealing temperature T.sub.1, and a step (B3) of annealing the sulfide-based inorganic solid electrolyte material in the vitreous state disposed in the heating space at the annealing temperature T.sub.1, and a temperature increase rate from the initial temperature T.sub.0 to the annealing temperature T.sub.1 in the step (B2) is 2° C./min or higher.

A process for preparing stacks of metal chalcogenide flakes includes: (a) reacting together a source of the metal atom of the target metal chalcogenide with a source of the chalcogenide atom of the target metal chalcogenide, in the presence of a spacer, so as to produce flakes of the metal chalcogenide; (b) depositing metal chalcogenide flakes obtained using step (a) onto a substrate to form a stack of assembled metal chalcogenide flakes, wherein the spacer contains an alkyl chain linked to a functional group able to bond to the metal chalcogenide surface, said alkyl chain having a length of less than 18 carbon atoms, preferably between 6 and 14 carbon atoms.

Provided are nanoparticles passivated with a cationic metal-chalcogenide complex (MCC) and a method of preparing the same. A passivated nanoparticle includes: a core nanoparticle; and a cationic metal-chalcogenide compound (MCC) fixed on a surface of the core nanoparticle.

Provided are nanoparticles passivated with a cationic metal-chalcogenide complex (MCC) and a method of preparing the same. A passivated nanoparticle includes: a core nanoparticle; and a cationic metal-chalcogenide compound (MCC) fixed on a surface of the core nanoparticle.

A novel quantum dot capable of near infrared emissions at wavelengths of 750-1100 is made by forming solid solutions of metal sulfide, metal selenide or metal sulfide selenide by incorporating a suitable amount of an additional metallic element or elements to provide an emission wavelength in the range of 750 nm to 1100 nm. The quantum dots may be enabled for bioconjugation and may be used in a method for tissue imaging and analyte detection.

A method of improving metal leach kinetics and recovery during atmospheric or substantially atmospheric leaching of a metal sulfide is disclosed. In some embodiments, the method may comprise the step of processing a metal sulfide concentrate in a reductive activation circuit 220 that operates at a first redox potential, to produce a reductively-activated metal sulfide concentrate. The method may further comprise the step of subsequently processing the activated metal sulfide concentrate in an oxidative leach circuit 240 to extract metal values. In some disclosed embodiments, reductive activation steps and/or oxidative dissolution steps may employ mechano-chemical and/or physico-chemical processing of particles or agglomerates thereof. Reductive activation may be made prior to heap leaching or bio-leaching operations to improve metal extraction. Systems for practicing the aforementioned methods are also disclosed.