Abstract: A high-silica content zeolite having a novel crystal structure, a zeolite membrane and manufacturing methods for these are provided, and the present invention relates to a zeolite having the chemical composition represented by [(Si36-xTy.O72).Mz] (wherein M is a cation of an alkali metal such as Li, Na, K or Rb, T represents Al, Ga, Fe and Ce as skeleton substituting elements, x satisfies 0?x?3.0, y satisfies 0?y?1.0 and z satisfies 0?z?3.0), and having a micropore formed of covalent bonds between Si and O atoms, with a specific diffraction peak at 2? in powder x-ray diffraction, together with a zeolite membrane and methods for manufacturing these.

Abstract: A method for splicing optical fibers is provided which is applied to an optical fiber using, as the material of a clad layer, hexafluoroalkyl methacrylate, a residuum of which after pryolysis due to a thermogravimetric analysis is 10% or less by weight. The method comprises a step of removing a protective layer and a cushioning layer at an end portion of the optical fiber, to expose the clad layer, a step of positioning two optical fibers, the end portions of which have been treated, such that the end faces of cores of the two optical fibers are opposed and close to each other, and a step of heating the end portions of the two optical fibers by electrical discharge, to remove the exposed clad layer by pyrolysis and fusion bond the opposed end faces of the cores to each other.