Abstract: According to one embodiment, a motor drive apparatus includes a first inverter, a second inverter, and a controller. This controller rotationally moves, at the time of startup of a motor, a rotor of the motor to an initial position by DC excitation of supplying DC exciting currents from the first and second inverters to the phase windings of the motor and, after this rotational movement, PWM-controls switching of the first and second inverters in such a manner that a rotational speed of the rotor becomes a target rotational speed. Then, the controller carries out the DC excitation fey which a zero-axis current in each of the phase windings becomes approximately zero.

Abstract: According to one embodiment, a motor drive unit includes a motor including a plurality of phase windings in a mutually unconnected state, a first inverter which controls application of electric power to one ends of the phase windings, a second inverter which controls application of electric power to the other ends of the phase windings, relays each of which includes a make break contact connected between the other ends of the phase windings, and a controller which switches, according to a value of a current flowing through the motor, between an open-windings mode and a star-connection mode.

Abstract: Provided are a metal nanowire production method capable of producing long and thin metal nanowires, and metal nanowires produced thereby. A metal nanowire production method comprising, a step for preparing a solution containing a metal salt, a polymer, at least one selected from a group consisting of halides, sulfides, carbonates, and sulfates, and an aliphatic alcohol, and a step for heating and reacting the solution at the temperature of 100° C. to 250° C. for 10 minutes or more while maintaining a practical shear stress applied to the solution at 10 mPa·m or less, wherein, during the heating and reacting step, ultraviolet-visible absorption spectrum change of the solution is measured, and a reaction time is controlled on the basis of the ultraviolet-visible absorption spectrum information.

Abstract: Disclosed are an insulating material (high-k layer) which includes a fiber assembly mainly composed of a cellulose nanofiber, and an electroconductive metal material supported by the fiber assembly; and a passive element (capacitor) which includes a high-k layer which is composed of the insulating material, and an electroconductive part stacked on the high-k layer.

Abstract: Provided are a metal nanowire production method capable of producing long and thin metal nanowires, and metal nanowires produced thereby. A metal nanowire production method comprising, a step for preparing a solution containing a metal salt, a polymer, at least one selected from a group consisting of halides, sulfides, carbonates, and sulfates, and an aliphatic alcohol, and a step for heating and reacting the solution at the temperature of 100° C. to 250° C. for 10 minutes or more while maintaining a practical shear stress applied to the solution at 10 mPa·m or less, wherein, during the heating and reacting step, ultraviolet-visible absorption spectrum change of the solution is measured, and a reaction time is controlled on the basis of the ultraviolet-visible absorption spectrum information.

Abstract: A composition for copper patterning and a method of copper patterning using the composition are provided, which composition is excellently safe in copper patterning, sintering at lower temperatures, and capable of forming a highly conducive copper pattern of a desired shape even on a plastic substrate. The composition contains Component A: a copper ?-ketocarboxylate compound of formula (1): (R1, R2: H or C1-C6 straight- or C3-C6 branched-hydrocarbon group, etc.); and based on 1 mol of this compound, Component B: an amine compound having a boiling point of not higher than 250° C. at 0.1 to 500 mol; and Component C-1: an organic acid having pKa of not more than 4 at 0.01 to 20 mol, and/or Component C-2: an organic copper compound composed of copper and an organic acid having pKa of not more than 4 at 0.01 to 100 mol. The composition is useful in the field of electronics.

Abstract: Provided is a nanofiber sheet that sufficiently refined by fibrillation and has high crystallinity of cellulose fiber and can realize a fiber-reinforced composite material exhibiting high transparency, a high elastic modulus, a low coefficient of linear thermal expansion, and high heat resistance and being high in flatness and smoothness. This nanofiber sheet includes crystalline cellulose as the main component and a lignin in an amount of from 10 ppm to 10 wt %. When a fiber/resin composite material obtained by impregnating the nanofiber sheet with tricyclodecane dimethacrylate, subjecting the impregnated product to UV-curing at 20 J/cm2, and heating the cured product in vacuum at 160° C. for two hours includes 60 wt % of the cured tricyclodecane dimethacrylate and 40 wt % of nanofiber, the following physical characteristics (i) to (iii) are satisfied: (i) the parallel light transmittance of light of a wavelength of 600 nm at a sheet thickness of 100 ?m is 70% or more; (ii) the Young's modulus is 5.

Abstract: A nanofiber sheet that has a high degree of transparency, a high modulus of elasticity, a low coefficient of linear thermal expansion as well as high degrees of flatness and smoothness, in particular, a nanofiber sheet produced as a uniform and flat sheet having a high optical transmittance with cellulose as the only component. This sheet has the following characteristics: Calculated for a thickness of 60 ?m, the transmittance for parallel rays of light having a wavelength of 600 nm is equal to or higher than 70%; The Young's modulus measured in accordance with the JIS K7161 method is equal to or greater than 10 GPa; The coefficient of linear thermal expansion measured in accordance with the ASTM D606 method is equal to or smaller than 10 ppm/K.

Abstract: A method for producing a transparent conductive pattern having an improved conductivity by pulse light irradiation. A transparent conductive pattern is produced by coating and drying a dispersion liquid having metal nanowires dispersed therein on a substrate, to deposit the metal nanowires, and irradiating pulsed light having a pulse width of 20 microseconds to 50 milliseconds to the metal nanowires deposited on the substrate, to thereby join intersections of the metal nanowires.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method for producing chitin nanofibers, which includes the steps of deproteinizing a material derived from a chitin-containing organism by an alkali treatment, deashing a deproteinized integument by an acid treatment, optionally treating the deashed integument under acidic conditions, and then subjecting to a fiber-loosening treatment. The present invention also provides chitin nanofibers obtained by the method, and a composite material and a coating composition each containing the same. The present invention provides a method for producing chitosan nanofibers, which includes, in addition to the above steps, a deacetylation step and chitosan nanofibers obtained by the method, and a composite material and a coating composition each containing the same.

Abstract: Disclosed are an insulating material (high-k layer) which includes a fiber assembly mainly composed of a cellulose nanofiber, and an electroconductive metal material supported by the fiber assembly; and a passive element (capacitor) which includes a high-k layer which is composed of the insulating material, and an electroconductive part stacked on the high-k layer.

Abstract: A composition for copper patterning and a method of copper patterning using the composition are provided, which composition is excellently safe in copper patterning, sintering at lower temperatures, and capable of forming a highly conducive copper pattern of a desired shape even on a plastic substrate. The composition contains Component A: a copper ?-ketocarboxylate compound of formula (1): (R1, R2: H or C1-C6 straight- or C3-C6 branched-hydrocarbon group, etc.); and based on 1 mol of this compound, Component B: an amine compound having a boiling point of not higher than 250° C. at 0.1 to 500 mol; and Component C-1: an organic acid having pKa of not more than 4 at 0.01 to 20 mol, and/or Component C-2: an organic copper compound composed of copper and an organic acid having pKa of not more than 4 at 0.01 to 100 mol. The composition is useful in the field of electronics.

Abstract: A highly transparent fiber composite material is provided that can be manufactured through a simplified process using reduced amounts of raw materials and that has high flexibility and low thermal expansivity and retains good functionality of the fiber material. The fiber composite material includes: a fiber assembly having an average fiber diameter of 4 to 200 nm and a 50 ?m-thick visible light transmittance of 3% or more; and a coating layer that coats and smoothes the surface of the fiber assembly, wherein the fiber composite material has a 50 ?m-thick visible light transmittance of 60% or more. With this fiber assembly, the scattering of light caused by the irregularities on the surface can be suppressed by coating the surface with the coating layer to smooth the surface, whereby a highly transparent fiber composite material can be obtained.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method for producing chitin nanofibers, which includes the steps of deproteinizing a material derived from a chitin-containing organism by an alkali treatment, deashing a deproteinized integument by an acid treatment, optionally treating the deashed integument under acidic conditions, and then subjecting to a fiber-loosening treatment. The present invention also provides chitin nanofibers obtained by the method, and a composite material and a coating composition each containing the same. The present invention provides a method for producing chitosan nanofibers, which includes, in addition to the above steps, a deacetylation step and chitosan nanofibers obtained by the method, and a composite material and a coating composition each containing the same.

Abstract: Disclosed is a highly transparent fiber-reinforced composite material including an assembly of cellulose fibers of 4 to 200 nm average fiber diameter impregnated with a matrix material so as to not only remedy the moisture absorbency attributed to cellulose fibers but also further improve transparency. There is provided a fiber-reinforced composite material including an assembly of cellulose fibers impregnated with a matrix material. In the fiber-reinforced composite material, hydroxyl groups of cellulose fibers are chemically modified through a reaction with one or more chemical modifiers selected from the group consisting of an acid, an alcohol, a halogenating reagent, an acid anhydride, and an isocyanate so that the ratio of a functional group introduced by the chemical modification is 5 to 40 percent by mole based on the hydroxyl groups of cellulose fibers before the chemical modification.

Abstract: A nanofiber sheet that has a high degree of transparency, a high modulus of elasticity, a low coefficient of linear thermal expansion as well as high degrees of flatness and smoothness, in particular, a nanofiber sheet produced as a uniform and flat sheet having a high optical transmittance with cellulose as the only component. This sheet has the following characteristics: Calculated for a thickness of 60 ?m, the transmittance for parallel rays of light having a wavelength of 600 nm is equal to or higher than 70%; The Young's modulus measured in accordance with the JIS K7161 method is equal to or greater than 10 GPa; The coefficient of linear thermal expansion measured in accordance with the ASTM D606 method is equal to or smaller than 10 ppm/K.

Abstract: A flexible substrate 1 of the present invention is formed of a thin glass sheet 10 having a thickness of 50 ?m or less and a composite material sheet 20 having a thickness of 100 ?m or less which are laminated together, the composite material sheet 20 being formed of a composite material of an aggregation of cellulose nanofiber and amorphous synthetic resin.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a fiber-reinforced composite material and a method for manufacturing the same, and also relates to a transparent multilayered sheet, a circuit board, and an optical waveguide.

Abstract: A highly transparent fiber composite material is provided that can be manufactured through a simplified process using reduced amounts of raw materials and that has high flexibility and low thermal expansivity and retains good functionality of the fiber material. The fiber composite material includes: a fiber assembly having an average fiber diameter of 4 to 200 nm and a 50 ?m-thick visible light transmittance of 3% or more; and a coating layer that coats and smoothes the surface of the fiber assembly, wherein the fiber composite material has a 50 ?m-thick visible light transmittance of 60% or more. With this fiber assembly, the scattering of light caused by the irregularities on the surface can be suppressed by coating the surface with the coating layer to smooth the surface, whereby a highly transparent fiber composite material can be obtained.

Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a fiber-reinforced composite resin composition for use as a sealant, adhesive, or filler, having a high transparency, and enabled to adequately meet recently required levels of low thermal expansion property, high strength, light weight, high thermal conductivity, and especially high, isotropic thermal conductivity. With the fiber-reinforced composite resin composition, the fibers have an average fiber diameter of 4 to 200 nm, a total light transmittance at wavelengths of 400 to 700 nm as measured with a 50 ?m-thickness cured product, resulting from curing the composition to a plate-like form, is no less than 70%, both a thermal conductivity coefficient in a thickness direction and a thermal conductivity coefficient in a plate surface direction of the cured product are no less than 0.4 W/m·K, and the fibers are oriented randomly in the composition.