Disclosed is a composite of a particulate and polymer, the composite characterized by less than enough polymer to fully occupy the available excluded volume of the particulate of the composite. The resulting composite is characterized by the particulate partially covered by the polymer leaving a substantial surface area uncovered.

Methods of making a poly(propylenimine) (PPI) sorbent, a PPI sorbent, structures including the PPI sorbent, methods of separating CO.sub.2 using the PPI sorbent, and the like, are disclosed.

Herein disclosed is an economical standalone system that replaces conventional monomer purification methods needed to perform chemical reactions that require reactants with a high degree of purity. Chemical reactions, such as anionic polymerization, can produce highly monodisperse homopolymers and block copolymers, however to do so they require very high purity reactants along with a moisture and oxygen free atmosphere. The system and method uses traditional column purification methods, but incorporates them into an economical, standalone, compact, and hazard free system. This method is different in view of safety, cost of cleaning procedure, time commitment, space availability, design and operational ease; helping researchers save time by cutting down the operating commitment by 90% and most importantly making it safer.

A magnetic soil remediation agent for soil heavy metal pollution and a preparation method and application thereof are provided. The magnetic soil remediation agent is prepared by using remediation agent framework material and magnetic core material as raw materials, and heavy metal collector as modifier; said framework material is silicon dioxide activated by strong alkali; said magnetic core material comprises magnetic materials Fe.sub.3O.sub.4 and γ-Fe.sub.2O.sub.3; said modifier comprises ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA, nitrilotriacetic acid trisodium salt (NTA, (S,S)-ethylenediamine-N,N-disuccinic acid trisodium salt (EDDS) and mercaptoethylamine. The remediation agent of the present invention can effectively passivate the heavy metals in the soil, reduce their available contents, and inhibit the absorption of heavy metals by plants.

A magnetic soil remediation agent for soil heavy metal pollution and a preparation method and application thereof are provided. The magnetic soil remediation agent is prepared by using remediation agent framework material and magnetic core material as raw materials, and heavy metal collector as modifier; said framework material is silicon dioxide activated by strong alkali; said magnetic core material comprises magnetic materials Fe.sub.3O.sub.4 and γ-Fe.sub.2O.sub.3; said modifier comprises ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA, nitrilotriacetic acid trisodium salt (NTA, (S,S)-ethylenediamine-N,N-disuccinic acid trisodium salt (EDDS) and mercaptoethylamine. The remediation agent of the present invention can effectively passivate the heavy metals in the soil, reduce their available contents, and inhibit the absorption of heavy metals by plants.

The invention provides methods and systems for sanitizing and/or regenerating porous filter media using dissolved ozone in the filter backwash under fluidized conditions.

The invention provides methods and systems for sanitizing and/or regenerating porous filter media using dissolved ozone in the filter backwash under fluidized conditions.

A photovoltaic module comprising: (a) a photovoltaic laminate including: two or more electrically conducting dements extending through the photovoltaic laminate so that power is moved from one photovoltaic module towards another photovoltaic module or towards an inverter; and (b) one or more connectors connected to each of the two or more electrically conducting elements by a connection joint, each of the one or more connectors include: two or more opposing terminals that each are connected to and extend from one of the two or more electrically conducing elements; wherein a dielectric space is located between the two or more opposing terminals and the dielectric space blocks material used to form a connection joint from passing from a first terminal to a second terminal, the material from the connection joint cools before the material passes from one terminal to a second terminal, the material fails to travel from the first terminal to the second terminal, or a combination thereof.

Mesoporous membranes have shown promising separation performance with a potential to lower the energy consumption, leading to a dramatic cost reduction. Recently, an extensive effort has been made on the design of membranes which brought a significant progress toward the synthesis of well-defined porous morphologies, most of which synthesized by surfactant-template methodology. Currently, the most well-designed state-of-the-art membranes using this technique are made from metals, polymers, carbon, silica, etc. In the present invention, we demonstrate mesoporous calcium-silicate particles having superior separation capacity and optimal permeability, thereby leading to reduced energy consumption for selective separation of gases/liquids and/or the combination thereof. We explore various methods to improve the calcium-silicate membranes properties by tuning pore density during the synthesis/aging process, while favoring the formation of uniformly distributed nanopores. Lowering particle density by controlling calcium to silicon ratio along with optimizing the surface area are essential in achieving our objective.

Mesoporous membranes have shown promising separation performance with a potential to lower the energy consumption, leading to a dramatic cost reduction. Recently, an extensive effort has been made on the design of membranes which brought a significant progress toward the synthesis of well-defined porous morphologies, most of which synthesized by surfactant-template methodology. Currently, the most well-designed state-of-the-art membranes using this technique are made from metals, polymers, carbon, silica, etc. In the present invention, we demonstrate mesoporous calcium-silicate particles having superior separation capacity and optimal permeability, thereby leading to reduced energy consumption for selective separation of gases/liquids and/or the combination thereof. We explore various methods to improve the calcium-silicate membranes properties by tuning pore density during the synthesis/aging process, while favoring the formation of uniformly distributed nanopores. Lowering particle density by controlling calcium to silicon ratio along with optimizing the surface area are essential in achieving our objective.