Abstract: It is desirable to provide a technology for enabling to make a reply to a received message by simple operation. There is provided an information processing device including an output control unit that, in a case where a received message has been obtained through a communication unit, controls display of first and second candidates of a transmission message, and sets the first candidate as a candidate in a selected state, in which: in a case where first pressing force has been detected by a first pressure sensor, the output control unit switches the candidate in the selected state from the first candidate to the second candidate; and in a case where second pressing force has been detected by a second pressure sensor, the output control unit controls the communication unit in such a manner that the candidate in the selected state is transmitted as the transmission message.

Abstract: It is desirable to provide a technology for enabling to make a reply to a received message by simple operation. There is provided an information processing device including an output control unit that, in a case where a received message has been obtained through a communication unit, controls display of first and second candidates of a transmission message, and sets the first candidate as a candidate in a selected state, in which: in a case where first pressing force has been detected by a first pressure sensor, the output control unit switches the candidate in the selected state from the first candidate to the second candidate; and in a case where second pressing force has been detected by a second pressure sensor, the output control unit controls the communication unit in such a manner that the candidate in the selected state is transmitted as the transmission message.

Abstract: The method of the present disclosure is a method for producing a porous polymer film including: irradiating a strip-shaped polymer film with an ion beam while moving the polymer film transversely to the ion beam, so as to form a polymer film that has collided with ions in the beam; and chemically etching the formed polymer film so as to form openings and/or through holes corresponding to tracks left by the colliding ions in the polymer film. The ion beam (11) with which the polymer film is irradiated is obtained by folding a tail of an original beam (51) inwardly toward a center of the original beam by nonlinear focusing. The original beam is composed of ions accelerated in a cyclotron and has a cross-sectional intensity distribution profile in which an intensity is maximum at the center of the original beam and continuously decreases from the center toward the tail of the original beam, and the profile is an intensity distribution profile in a cross section perpendicular to a direction of the original beam.

Abstract: The method of the present disclosure includes: (I) irradiating a polymer film (1) with an ion beam composed of ions (2) accelerated in a cyclotron so as to form a polymer film that has collided with the ions in the beam; and (II) chemically etching the polymer film formed in the irradiation (I) so as to form openings (4b) and/or through holes (4a) corresponding to tracks (3) left by the colliding ions in the polymer film. In the irradiation (I), a beam current value of the ion beam is detected upstream and/or downstream of the polymer film in a path of the ion beam, and an irradiation conditioning factor in the irradiation of the polymer film with the ion beam is controlled based on the detected beam current value so that the polymer film can be irradiated with the ions at a predetermined irradiation density. The method of the present disclosure is suitable for industrial production of porous polymer films.

Abstract: The method of the present disclosure is a method for producing a porous polymer film including: irradiating a strip-shaped polymer film with an ion beam while moving the polymer film transversely to the ion beam, so as to form a polymer film that has collided with ions in the beam; and chemically etching the formed polymer film so as to form openings and/or through holes corresponding to tracks left by the colliding ions in the polymer film. The ion beam (11) with which the polymer film is irradiated is obtained by folding a tail of an original beam (51) inwardly toward a center of the original beam by nonlinear focusing. The original beam is composed of ions accelerated in a cyclotron and has a cross-sectional intensity distribution profile in which an intensity is maximum at the center of the original beam and continuously decreases from the center toward the tail of the original beam, and the profile is an intensity distribution profile in a cross section perpendicular to a direction of the original beam.

Abstract: An anion conducting electrolyte membrane with high performance where the electric conductivity and the water uptake are balanced, and a method of manufacturing the same are disclosed. The anion conducting electrolyte membrane comprises: a polymeric material which consists of fluorine polymer, olefinic polymer, or aromatic polymer; weak base quaternary salt obtained by the reaction of grafts introduced by graft polymerizing vinyl monomer which contains halogenated alkyl groups using radiation and strong organic bases.

Abstract: Disclosed is a method for producing a porous polymer film. This method includes the steps of: (I) irradiating a polymer film with an ion beam of accelerated ions so as to form a polymer film that has collided with the ions in the beam; and (II) chemically etching the polymer film formed in the step (I) so as to form openings and/or through holes corresponding to tracks of the colliding ions left in the polymer film. In the step (I), the polymer film is placed in an atmosphere with a pressure of 100 Pa or more, and the polymer film placed in the atmosphere is irradiated with the ion beam that has passed through a beam line maintained at a lower pressure than the pressure of the atmosphere and through a pressure barrier sheet disposed at an end of the beam line to separate the beam line from the atmosphere.

Abstract: A graft chain containing an N-vinylimidazole derivative is introduced into a polymer substrate by radiation graft polymerization to obtain an alkyl substituted imidazolium salt by a reaction with an alkyl halide, so that an anion exchange membrane with high alkaline durability, in which a nucleophilic substitution reaction and an elimination reaction are inhibited, is obtained.

Abstract: An anion conducting electrolyte membrane with high performance where the electric conductivity and the water uptake are balanced, and a method of manufacturing the same are disclosed. The anion conducting electrolyte membrane comprises: a polymeric material which consists of fluorine polymer, olefinic polymer, or aromatic polymer; weak base quaternary salt obtained by the reaction of grafts introduced by graft polymerizing vinyl monomer which contains halogenated alkyl groups using radiation and strong organic bases.

Abstract: With respect to the anionic polymer ion-exchange material used in an alkaline fuel cell, an electrodialysis apparatus, water treatment industry, catalyst industry, and the like, there are provided an anionic polymer ion-exchange material having both excellent ionic conductivity and excellent mechanical strength, as compared to the materials conventionally used, and a method for producing the same. An anionic polymer ion-exchange material having a polymer base material mainly made of an amide resin having both an aromatic structure and an aliphatic chain in the principal chain thereof, wherein the polymer base material has an anionic monomer graft-polymerized on the aliphatic chain in the principal chain of the amide resin, wherein the anionic monomer has an aromatic structure and a quaternary ammonium structure.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a thermostable polymer electrolyte membrane which comprises a main chain comprising an alicyclic polybenzimidazole and a graft chain added to the main chain by radiation-induced graft polymerization, wherein at least a part of the graft chain has sulfonic acid groups. The thermostable polymer electrolyte membrane of the invention is used for many apparatuses such as polymer electrolyte fuel cells or water electrolysis devices, in which the electrolyte membrane exhibits high proton conductivity, low fuel permeability, high oxidation resistance and superior mechanical property under operation conditions at high temperature. The present invention also provides a simple and low-cost process for producing the same.

Abstract: A vinyl monomer is graft polymerized on an aromatic hydrocarbon-based polymer film substrate to introduce graft chains into the substrate and thereafter a functional monomer represented by the following formula and having sulfonic acid groups or functional groups capable of conversion to sulfonic acid groups is graft polymerized to introduce the sulfonic acid groups or the functional groups capable of conversion to sulfonic acid groups: where R is an aromatic ring or an aliphatic chain; X is (1) —OH, (2) —OLi, —ONa or —OK, (3) —F or —Cl, or (4) —OCnH2n+1 where n is an integer of 1 to 7. Since the graft chains obtained by graft polymerization of the vinyl monomer can also be utilized as scaffold polymers, the graft polymerizability of the functional monomer to the aromatic hydrocarbon-based polymer film substrate is sufficiently improved to enable the preparation of a polymer electrolyte membrane that excels not only in proton conductivity and mechanical strength but also in dimensional stability.

Abstract: The process for producing a proton conductive polymer electrolyte membrane of the present invention includes the steps of: irradiating resin fine particles with radiation; graft-polymerizing a vinyl monomer having a sulfonic acid group precursor and a vinyl monomer having a carbonyl group equivalent with the resin fine particles in a solid-liquid two-phase system to obtain a finely particulate graft polymer; preparing a casting solution of a polymer having a phosphoric acid group or a phosphonic acid group and the graft polymer, and forming a cast membrane from this solution; drying the cast membrane to obtain a film; converting the sulfonic acid group precursor into a sulfonic acid group; and forming a crosslinked structure between the carbonyl group equivalents. In the solid-liquid two-phase system, a liquid phase includes the vinyl monomers and a solvent for the monomers, and a solid phase includes the resin fine particles.

Abstract: A functional membrane and a production method thereof including: an ion irradiation step in which a polymer film substrate is irradiated with high energy heavy ions at 104 to 1014 ions/cm2, to generate active species in the film substrate; and a graft polymerization step in which after the ion irradiation step, the film substrate is added with one or more monomers selected from a group A consisting of monomers each having a functional group and 1 to 80 mol % of a monomer including a group B consisting of a crosslinking agent(s) for the group A monomer(s), and the film substrate and the monomer(s) are graft-polymerized. There is obtained a functional membrane having high functionality in conjunction with the gas barrier property intrinsically possessed by a polymer film substrate, in particular, a polymer electrolyte membrane optimal as a polymer electrolyte membrane for use in fuel cells, high in proton conductivity and excellent in gas barrier property.

Abstract: An object is to provide an electrolyte membrane that maintains excellent cell characteristics for a long time under high temperature and low water retention, as this is the most important point in fuel cells. A process for producing a polymer electrolyte membrane for fuel cells is provided, which process comprises in sequence: forming graft molecular chains by graft-polymerization of a vinyl silane coupling agent on a polymer film substrate that has phenyl groups capable of holding sulfonic acid groups; introducing sulfonic acid groups into phenyl groups contained in the graft molecular chains; and hydrolyzing and condensing alkoxy groups contained in the graft molecular chains so that a silane crosslinked structure is introduced between the graft molecular chains. A polymer electrolyte membrane produced by the process is also provided.

Abstract: Polymer ion-exchange membranes having outstanding electrical conductivity, water retention and oxidation resistance are produced by the steps of uniformly mixing an organic high-molecular weight resin with functional inorganics having the abilities to promote graft polymerization of polymerizable monomers, adsorb water and conduct protons, irradiating the resulting functional inorganics/polymer membrane to initiate graft polymerization or graft copolymerization of polymerizable monomers having functional groups, and then introducing sulfonic acid groups into the graft chains.

Abstract: A polymer film substrate is irradiated with ions to make a large number of nano-sized through-holes and the substrate may be further irradiated with ionizing radiation so that a functional monomer may be grafted or co-grafted onto a surface of the film and within the holes; in addition, sulfonic acid group(s) may be introduced into the graft chains to produce a polymer ion-exchange membrane that may have high oxidation resistance, dimensional stability, electrical conductivity and/or methanol resistance, as well as may have an ion-exchange capacity controlled over a wide range.

Abstract: An anion exchange membrane includes a quaternary ammonium salt group in which two methyl groups, and one alkyl group having 3 to 8 carbon atoms are bonded to a nitrogen atom.

Abstract: A functional membrane is provided, which has high functionality combined with the gas barrier performance and mechanical strength inherent in a polymer film substrate. In particular, a polymer electrolyte membrane is provided, which is excellent in terms of high proton conductivity and gas barrier performance and is most appropriate to serve as a polymer electrolyte membrane for fuel cells. A method for producing a functional membrane is provided, which comprises: a step of ion irradiation, in which active species are generated in a polymer film substrate containing nonconductive inorganic particles by irradiating the polymer film substrate with high-energy heavy ions to the extent of 104/cm2 to 1014/cm2; and a step of graft polymerization subsequent to the step of ion irradiation, in which one or more monomers selected from group A consisting of monomers containing useful functional groups are added such that the monomers are graft polymerized with the polymer film substrate.

Abstract: A crosslinked nano-inorganic particle/polymer electrolyte membrane composed of a polymer film substrate, graft molecular chains bound to the backbone skeleton of the polymer film substrate and comprising a vinyl monomer graft-polymerized, sulfonic groups bound to the graft molecular chains, and an inorganic material as nano-scale particles uniformly dispersed within a crosslinked structure ascribed to the backbone skeleton of the polymer film substrate and the graft molecular chains, wherein the backbone skeleton of the polymer film substrate, the graft molecular chains, and the nano-inorganic particles mutually construct a crosslinked structure.