Drying polar solvents which do not form hydrogen bonds with a wet gel or aerogel, or eutectics or solvent mixtures with the drying solvents, are utilized in a solvent exchange with wet gels used in the formation of aerogels. Preferably the drying solvents are non-polar solvents. The drying solvent or solvent mixtures results in profoundly less shrinkage, thereby allowing for the production of aerogels of preferred materials properties.

A monolithic organic porous ion exchanger having a continuous skeleton and continuous pores, wherein the continuous skeleton is formed of an organic polymer being a hydrolysate of a crosslinked polymer of a (meth)acrylic acid ester and divinylbenzene, the organic polymer having any one or both of a —COOH group and a —COONa group as ion-exchange groups, the continuous skeleton has a thickness of 0.1 to 100 μm, the continuous pores have an average diameter of 1.0 to 1000 μm, the monolithic organic porous ion exchanger has a total pore volume of 0.5 to 50.0 mL/g, and has a total ion-exchange capacity of the —COOH group and the —COONa group per weight in a dry state of 4.0 mg equivalent/g or more.

High strength biomedical materials and processes for making the same are disclosed. Included in the disclosure are nanoporous hydrophilic solids that can be extruded with a high aspect ratio to make high strength medical catheters and other devices with lubricious and biocompatible surfaces.

The present invention relates to a porous silicone body having communicating pores and a three-dimensional network silicone skeleton that forms the pores, wherein the silicone skeleton is formed by polymerization of a bifunctional alkoxysilane and a trifunctional alkoxysilane, and the proportion of unreacted parts in the silicone skeleton is 10 mol % or less. The porous silicone body of the present invention has high flexibility and high heat resistance, and further has excellent recoverability of heat-resistant cushioning properties.

A filtration material including a silica base material having a group represented by the following general formula (a0-1) [in formula (a0-1), Ya.sup.01 represents a divalent linking group; Ra.sup.01 represents a hydrocarbon group which may have a substituent; Ra.sup.02 represents a hydroxyl group or a hydrocarbon group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms which may have a substituent; n.sup.01 represents an integer of 0 to 5; and the symbol “*” represents a valence bond with respect to the silica base material].

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Formation of low-crystallinity phytosterol nanoparticles via cooling-controlled supercritical carbon dioxide (SC—CO.sub.2) impregnation of phytosterols into biodegradable nanoporous starch aerogels and methods of preparing these aerogels are disclosed. The nanoporous starch aerogels increase water dissolution and bioaccessibility of the phytosterols, thereby making them available for preparation of high nutraceutical value foods.

An aerogel and drying method, the aerogel having a larger size, good productivity, and high transparency. The aerogel has a silsesquioxane structure and exhibits two exothermic peaks observed in a temperature range of 300 to 600° C. as measured by TG-DTA (thermogravimetry-differential thermal analysis) under an inert gas atmosphere containing 80% by volume of an inert gas and 20% by volume of oxygen. A method for producing aerogel includes a drying step including a first step in which an aerogel which has undergone condensation of a hydrolysate is placed in a liquid phase system having a first liquid phase and a second liquid phase; a second step in which a first solvent constituting the first liquid phase is evaporated from the first liquid phase at a temperature greater than room temperature; and a third step in which heating is still continued after the first liquid phase is evaporated off.

The present invention provides a method for producing a porous silicone sheet comprising a freezing step of freezing a wet gel of a porous silicone body having communicating pores and a three-dimensional network silicone skeleton which forms the pores and which is formed by a copolymerization of a bifunctional alkoxysilane and a trifunctional alkoxysilane, to obtain a frozen body, a sheet forming step of forming the frozen body into a sheet to obtain a porous silicone sheet, and a cleaning step of cleaning the porous silicone sheet. According to the method of the present invention, a porous silicone body from which impurities have been sufficiently removed can be produced. In the course of the production, occurrence of fracture of a wet gel can be effectively prevented.

Provided is novel porous cellulose having functionality that is not imparted to porous cellulose composed of unsubstituted cellulose, and a method for producing the same. Porous cellulose containing: unsubstituted cellulose; and a glucose unit-containing polymer excluding unsubstituted cellulose, wherein a content of the polymer is not more than 20 mass % in 100 mass % of a total of the polymer and the unsubstituted cellulose.

Provided are porous cellulose particles containing chitosan and having predetermined pores on a surface and a predetermined particle diameter, and a method for producing the porous cellulose particles. Porous cellulose particles including unsubstituted cellulose and chitosan, wherein a content of the chitosan is not greater than 20 mass % in a total of 100 mass % of the unsubstituted cellulose and the chitosan, pores having a diameter from 0.05 to 5 μm are observed in an image of surfaces of the porous cellulose particles observed by a scanning electron microscope, and a proportion of porous cellulose particles having a particle diameter from 10 to 200 μm is not less than 90 mass %.