| abstract |
The invention relates to a new and useful composite fiber and its use, especially as a stable size separator. The composite fiber comprises non-organic particles bonded to an organic polymer in the form of fiber and prepared by vigorous molding or shearing at an elevated temperature of a mixture of non-organic particles and organic precursor particles of the polymer. Many non-organic substances can be used and the "valve" metal oxides are very suitable. The polymer organic fiber is advantageously derived from a fluorine-containing polymer. The fibers may serve as a filter, for example as a filter coating material for chromatography columns, or may be useful in separation processes, for example for accumulator separators. The fiber can be compressed, or compressed and sintered, and thus lends itself to forming bearings or seals. When used as a separator, the separator is preferably a membrane used in electrolysis tanks to produce chlorine and caustic, preferably prepared according to a process which consists in applying directly to a porous cathode of a tank electrolysis a coating of a mud or a paste of compound fibers, and then to dry it and heat. |