National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology

Other

Japan As Represented by Director General of Agency of Industrial Science

Eamex Corporation

Tatsuhiro Okada

Kinji Asaka

Keisuke Oguro

Shingo Sewa

Kazuo Onishi

Fujio Mizukami

Takeo Ebina

Hideki Sugihara

Kazuhisa Hiratani

Ryo Ishii

Kiyoshi Kobayashi

Kentaro Ishida

Masayoshi Ishida

The present invention provides a novel technology and a novel material having excellent pliability, gas barrier properties and water resistance, for the technical fields of packaging materials, sealing materials, electric insulating materials and the like, the present invention relates to a film of a material having a denatured clay as a main constituent thereof, wherein (1) the film comprises a denatured clay and an additive, (2) the weight ratio of the denatured clay is not less than 70% relative to total solids, (3) the film has gas barrier properties and water-vapor barrier properties, (4) the film has heat resistance, (5) the film has water resistance, (6) the film has sufficient mechanical strength to be used as a self-supporting film, and (7) the film can be formed on the surface of metals, plastics, rubber, paper and the like, and the present invention can provide a material comprising the denatured clay film in which denatured clay particles are highly oriented and which has excellent heat resistance, excellent pliability, excellent gas barrier properties, excellent water-vapor barrier properties, and high water resistance.

Film made from denatured clay

A polymeric actuator of simple structure, capable of being easily miniaturized, showing quick response and capable of generating large displacement. The polymeric actuator includes an ion-exchange resin product and metal electrodes. The ion-exchange resin product contains an alkylammonium. The metal electrodes are formed on the surface of the ion-exchange resin product and are insulated from each other. The polymeric actuator operates as an actuator by applying a potential difference between the metal electrodes when the ion-exchange resin product is in water-containing state to allow the ion-exchange resin product to undergo bending or deformation.

Polymeric actuator

A fuel cell, which has a tubular polymer electrolyte membrane, with a fuel electrode on one of inner and outer sides of the membrane, and with an air electrode on the other side of the membrane, wherein at least one of the fuel electrode and the air electrode is composed of carbon fibers on which a catalyst is loaded.

Fuel cell

A process for producing a polymeric actuator including an ion-exchange resin product and metal electrodes which are formed on the surface of the ion-exchange resin product is provided. The process involves repeatedly conducting the following steps (i) to (iii) to form the metal electrodes ranging from the surface of the ion-exchange resin product to the inside thereof: (i) a step of allowing the ion-exchange resin product to adsorb a metal complex (adsorption step), (ii) a step of reducing the metal complex adsorbed on the ion-exchange resin product by a reducing agent to deposit a metal on the surface of the ion-exchange resin product (deposition step), and (iii) a step of washing the ion-exchange resin product having the deposited metal (washing step). Through the above steps, a polymeric actuator having simple structure, capable of being easily miniaturized, showing quick response and capable of generating large displacement can be obtained.

Process for producing polymeric actuators

The electrode membrane of the invention has high ion-selectivity for lithium ions relative to other alkali and alkaline earth metal ions. The membrane is shaped from a polymeric composition comprising a polymeric material, e.g., a polyvinyl chloride resin and poly(1,2-butadiene), a plasticizer and, as the ion carrier, a derivative of 1,10-phenanthroline such as 2,9-dimethyl-1,10-phenanthroline and 2,9-dimethyl-4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline.

Electrode membrane

Growing community of inventors

Tsukuba, Japan

Tatsuhiro Okada