Japan Vilene Company, Ltd.

Toray Industries, Inc.

Kyushu University

Shinshu University

Fukuoka Prefectural Government

Takashi Tarao

Masaaki Kawabe

Rie Watanabe

Noriko Miyaguchi

Tatsunori Ito

Toshio Aikawa

Hitoshi Kobayashi

Yusuke Kosaka

Daisuke Izuhara

Yasushi Murakami

Tomoyuki Kunita

Hiroaki Umeda

Kouji Kimura

Yumiko Okamoto

Noriko Michihata

Junpei Yamaguchi

Takashi Nishitani

Tetsu Yamaguchi

Shusuke Shirai

Koei Kawakami

Hisanao Usami

Tomohiro Nishikawa

Yuuta Wakamoto

Shinji Sakai

Disclosed are an inorganic nanofiber characterized in that the average fiber diameter is 2 &#x3bc;m or less, the average fiber length is 200 &#x3bc;m or less, and the CV value of the fiber length is 0.7 or less; and a method of manufacturing the same. In the manufacturing method, an inorganic nanofiber sheet consisting of inorganic nanofibers having an average fiber diameter of 2 &#x3bc;m or less is formed by electrospinning, and then, the inorganic nanofiber sheet is pressed using a press machine and crushed so that the average fiber length becomes 200 &#x3bc;m or less, and the CV value of the fiber length becomes 0.7 or less.

Inorganic nanofiber and method for manufacturing same

A composite polymer electrolyte membrane has a high proton conductivity even under low-humidity, low-temperature conditions, a reduced dimensional change rate, a high mechanical strength and high chemical stability, and produces a solid polymer electrolyte fuel cell with a high output and high physical durability, a membrane electrode assembly, and a solid polymer electrolyte fuel cell containing the same. This composite polymer electrolyte membrane contains a composite layer composed mainly of a polyazole-containing nanofiber nonwoven fabric (A) and an ionic group-containing polymer electrolyte (B), the polyazole-containing nanofiber nonwoven fabric (A) being basic.

Composite polymer electrolyte membrane, membrane electrode assembly and solid polymer fuel cell using same

The base material for a gas diffusion electrode of the present invention comprises a nonwoven fabric containing conductive fibers that contain conductive particles at least in the inside of an organic resin, and is characterized in that a specific apparent Young's modulus of the base material for a gas diffusion electrode is 40 [MPa/(g/cm)] or more. Since the base material contains conductive fibers that contain conductive particles at least in the inside of an organic resin, it is flexible, and as a result, a polymer electrolyte membrane is not directly damaged. Further, since the specific apparent Young's modulus is 40 [MPa/(g/cm)] or more, which indicates a high rigidity, and swelling and shrinkage of the polymer electrolyte membrane can be inhibited, cracking of the polymer electrolyte membrane can be avoided.

Base material for gas diffusion electrode

An inorganic fiber structure comprising inorganic nanofibers having an average fiber diameter of 3 &#x3bc;m or less, in which an entirety including the inside thereof is adhered with an inorganic adhesive, and the porosity thereof is 90% or more, is disclosed. Furthermore, a process for producing an inorganic fiber structure is disclosed, which includes (i) a step of spinning inorganic fibers by an electrospinning method, from a spinning inorganic sol solution containing a compound mainly composed of an inorganic component; (ii) a step of forming an inorganic fiber aggregate by irradiating the inorganic fibers with ions having a polarity opposite to that of the inorganic fibers to accumulate the inorganic fibers; and (iii) a step of forming an inorganic fiber structure adhering to the inorganic fiber aggregate with an inorganic adhesive in an entirety including the inside thereof, in which an adhering inorganic sol solution containing a compound mainly composed of an inorganic component is imparted to an entirety including the inside of the inorganic fiber aggregate, and an excess adhering inorganic sol solution is removed by gas-through.

Inorganic fiber structure and process for producing same

A process of manufacturing inorganic nanofibers, without using an organic polymer, using a highly reactive metal alkoxide such as titanium alkoxide or zirconium alkoxide, in particular, a process in which inorganic nanofibers can be stably produced over a long period, is provided. It is a process of manufacturing inorganic nanofibers by electrospinning using a sol solution containing an inorganic component as a main component, characterized in that the sol solution contains a metal alkoxide having a high reactivity and a salt catalyst, and that the salt catalyst is an amine compound having an N&#x2014;N bond, an N&#x2014;O bond, an N&#x2014;C&#x2550;N bond, or an N&#x2014;C&#x2550;S bond.

Process of manufacturing inorganic nanofibers

A process for manufacturing organic fibers containing an inorganic component comprising the steps of: (1) preparing an inorganic spinnable sol solution; (2) mixing the inorganic spinnable sol solution, a solvent capable of dissolving the inorganic spinnable sol solution, and an organic polymer capable of being dissolved in the solvent to prepare a spinning solution; and (3) spinning the spinning solution to form the organic fibers containing an inorganic component composed of an inorganic gel and the organic polymer, is disclosed. The inorganic spinnable sol solution preferably has a weight average molecular weight of 10,000 or more, and the inorganic spinnable sol solution is preferably prepared from a material containing a metal alkoxide having an organic substituent. According to the process of the present invention, organic fibers containing an inorganic component having an improved mechanical strength can be produced by mixing an inorganic component into an organic component, and a nonwoven fabric containing the fibers can be provided.

Process for manufacturing organic fibers containing inorganic component and nonwoven fabric containing the same

A process for manufacturing an inorganic material-based article comprising the steps of (1) forming a sol solution mainly composed of an inorganic component, (2) producing inorganic material-based gel fine fibers by extruding the resulting sol solution from a nozzle, and at the same time, applying an electrical field to the extruded sol solution to thin the extruded sol solution, and then, collecting inorganic material-based gel fine fibers on a support, (3) drying the collected inorganic material-based gel fine fibers to produce inorganic material-based article containing inorganic material-based dried gel fine fibers, and then, (4) sintering the inorganic material-based article containing inorganic material-based dried gel fine fibers to produce inorganic material-based article containing inorganic material-based sintered fine fibers.

Process for manufacturing inorganic article

A nonwoven fabric prepared from fibers which are not substantially fibrillated and have a diameter of less than 20 &mgr;m, by fusing a fiber web comprising fine fibers having a diameter of 4 &mgr;m or less, and adhesive fibers having a diameter ranging from 8 &mgr;m to less than 20 &mgr;m, wherein a maximum pore size in the nonwoven fabric is not more than twice a mean flow pore size of the nonwoven fabric is disclosed.

Nonwoven fabric containing fine fiber, and a filter material

A nonwoven fabric prepared from fibers which are not substantially fibrillated and have a diameter of less than 20 &mgr;m, by fusing a fiber web comprising fine fibers having a diameter of 4 &mgr;m or less, and adhesive fibers having a diameter ranging from 8 &mgr;m to less than 20 &mgr;m, wherein a maximum pore size in the nonwoven fabric is not more than twice the mean flow pore size of the nonwoven fabric is disclosed.

Nonwoven fabric containing fine fibers, and a filter material

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Ibaraki, Japan

Takashi Tarao