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Bibliography: pages 282-293., The following study is concerned with a detailed examination of Samuel Beckett's prose fiction, from his earliest important writing up until the completion of the last book of his Trilogy. Although these works, widely recognized as being of seminal importance in the literary history of our time, have attracted a great deal of critical attention, I hope to contribute to this vast colloquy not merely by raising specific points of interpretation that appear to me to be both valid and hitherto unremarked (as well as challenging some popular misconceptions and critical heresies), but in the tenor of my approach to the texts, which stresses the need for a synthetic apprehension of their poetic texture and their narrative form, and insists that a thematic study of their imagery cannot be fruitfully conducted independently of a careful examination of their dramatic and rhythmical structure.

Composite membranes with defective metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) connect the emerging fields of MOF topological modification, MOF-polymer interfacial engineering and composite material functionalization. Although defective MOFs can be fabricated via thermal or chemical treatment, the relationship between hierarchical MOF structure and their performance in a polymeric membrane matrix has so far not been investigated. Here we show how a modulator fumarate-based MIL-53(Al) microwave synthesis process results in defective MOFs. This ligand replacement process leads to materials with hierarchical porosity, which creates a higher mesopore volume and Brønsted acidity without compromising the crystalline structure and pH stability. Compared with stoichiometric ratios, increasing the reaction time leads to more effective defect generation. The subsequent incorporation of defective MOFs into polyvinyl alcohol pervaporation membranes can effectively promote the fresh water productivity in concentrated brine treatment, with salt rejection of >99.999%. The membranes also have good long-term operational stability with effective antifouling behavior. We provide evidence that topological engineering of the MOF surface is related to their physical and chemical behaviors in a polymeric matrix, opening up the possibility of MOF defect engineering to realize selective separations, catalysis and sensing within a polymeric matrix.