Abstract: Provided is a water-purification cartridge to be replaceably accommodated in an accommodating portion of a water purifier. The cartridge includes activated carbon that removes impurities from water, forms, within the water purifier, a raw water flow path through which raw water flows downstream without passing through the activated carbon and a water purification flow path through which raw water flows downstream while passing through the activated carbon, and further includes a buffer portion that is disposed, within the water purifier, at a position upstream of flow path switching valves for selecting discharge from the raw water flow path or discharge from the water purification flow path and downstream of the activated carbon and that cuts off a water hammer propagating from the flow path switching valves to the activated carbon.

Abstract: A molecular sieve that has high selectivity and enables high-speed molecular permeation is provided. The molecular sieve has a nanowindow formed lacking a portion of carbon atoms in graphene, and one or more heteroatoms substituting for one or more carbon atoms that constitute a rim of this nanowindow, in which an electrostatic field is induced within the nanowindow by the heteroatoms, the rim of the nanowindow is relaxed in cooperation with a permeating molecule having a van der Waals' radius larger than the nanowindow, and the molecular sieve becomes permeable to the permeating molecule.

Abstract: Water is separated into deuterium-depleted water having a low deuterium concentration and deuterium-enriched water having a high deuterium concentration easily and at low cost. A method for separating water into deuterium-depleted water and deuterium-enriched water, the method including: adsorbing water vapor on an adsorbent including a pore body having pores 6 while supplying water vapor to and allowing the water vapor to pass through the adsorbent for a predetermined period of time; recovering deuterium-enriched water containing a large amount of heavy water 8 from the water vapor not adsorbed on the adsorbent; and then recovering deuterium-depleted water containing a large amount of light water 7 from the water vapor adsorbed on the adsorbent.