Other

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Md Nasim Hyder

Kripa K Varanasi

Robert A Wiercinski

Jyoti Seth

Brian Richmond Solomon

Anandakumar Ranganathan

Xia Cao

Marysusan Couturier

Greg Austin

Christian A Forgey

Nicholas Pankewytch

Sean Dsilva

The present invention provides a panel sheathing for making wall and roof structures in which the panels (e.g., wood boards, oriented strand boards, plywood, etc.) are pre-coated at a factory, before installation at the building/construction site, using a polymeric barrier coating having specific water permeability, self-sealing properties with respect to penetrated metal fasteners (e.g., nails) in accordance with ASTM D7349 (modified using 1.5-5.0 inches water depth in hydrostatic head testing over sample of coated panel in which a steel nail is driven to within &#x215b; inches of being flush with the panel and conditioning the test specimen for 24 hours at 23&#xb0; C. prior to hydrostatic loading), as well as anti-blocking properties whereby the coated panels can be transported in stacked configuration without sticking or disintegration of the polymeric barrier coating. The coated panels do not require the use at the installation site of felt paper, house wrap, or additional applied barrier coating to provide excellent weather barrier properties. The present invention also provides methods for constructing the panel sheathing structure as well as for making the coated panels.

Integral weather barrier panels

The present invention provides a multi-layer barrier assembly or device for post-installation injection of a resin, grout, or other fluid. The barrier device comprises first and second layers defining an intermediate open-matrix layer, and at least one injection conduit member in parallel orientation with respect to the first and second layers and having openings for injecting fluid into the intermediate open-matrix layer. The injection conduit may be located between and in parallel orientation with respect to the first and second layers, along an edge of the first and/or second layers, along an outer face of the first layer (if the first layer is a woven or nonwoven fabric), or at any combination of these locations, to enable fluid to be conveyed into the intermediate open-matrix layer. The invention also provides for use of a gel activator within the barrier device cavity, such as pre-installed on open-matrix structure which used for separating the first and second layers of the barrier device, such that a highly flowable injection fluid can be introduced into the device, and its gelation or hardening will be initiated or accelerated by the presence of the gel activator. This will allow for low power grout pumps to be used and facilitate the sealing of fine cracks in the surrounding concrete.

In-situ barrier device with internal injection conduit

Hierarchical porous membranes suitable for use in oil/water separation processes are provided. The membranes described herein are particularly well suited for separating trace amounts of water (e.g., no greater than 3 wt % water content, no greater than 1 wt % water content, or 50-1000 ppm water) from oil in droplets less than 1 um in size. The membranes have a wide range of applications, including deep seep oil exploration, oil purification, and oil spill cleanup.

Flux-enhanced hierarchical porous membrane for oil-water nanoemulsion separation

The invention provides methods that use particles comprising a polymer to absorb and recover oil. The methods can be used for oil spill cleanup, oil recovery, extraction of oil from an oil-water emulsion, etc. In some embodiments, the particles are distributed to an oil spill site or another environment where oil needs to be separated. The particles may be retrieved after they have absorbed oil from the oil spill site. The oil may then be retrieved from the particles by compressing the particles or via other suitable oil removal methods.

Using polymer particles for oil recovery

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Somerville, MA, United States of America

Md Nasim Hyder