Disclosed are layered ferric rust and iron hydroxide nanoparticles including the same, wherein the layered ferric rust has a novel crystal structure that satisfies conditions (a) to (c) below: (a) a crystal system belongs to a monoclinic system; (b) a space group belongs to Pn (No. 7); and (c) unit cell parameters are a = 3.854 ± 0.002 Å, b = 11.491 ± 0.007 Å, c = 9.818 ± 0.004 Å, and β = 88.47 ± 0.005° (b is the distance between layers in the [010] axial direction).

Methods of increasing soil water content are described. The methods may include applying a soil enhancement agent to the soil, where the soil enhancement agent includes one or both of (i) lactobionic acid and (ii) at least one salt of lactobionic acid. Treated soils with increased soil water content are also described. The treated soils may include a soil enhancement agent absorbed into the soil. The soil enhancement agent may include at least one salt of a lactobionic acid. Cations from the at least one salt of a lactobionic acid may aggregate at least a portion of the particles in the soil.

A natural gas storage material is provided that comprises a porous metal-organic framework (MOF) material having one or more sites for reversibly storing natural gas that contains methane. In certain variations, the MOF has a usable methane storage capacity of greater than or equal to about 208 cm.sup.3(STP)/cm.sup.3 under pressure swing conditions of 80 bar adsorption to 5 bar desorption at 298 K. In other variations, suitable MOFs having one or more sites for reversibly storing methane with advantageous natural gas storage capabilities are selected from the group consisting of: UMCM-152, DUT-23-Cu, VEBHUG_SL, FUYCIN, ja074366osi20070816_031204, XIYYEL, cg500192d_si_003, VUSKAW, VUSKEA, PEVQOY, EDUSIF, and combinations thereof. Natural gas storage systems and methods of reversibly storing natural gas in such MOFs are also provided.

Thermo-responsive hydrogel composite (TRHC) desiccants having high adsorption capacities, fast adsorption/desorption rates, and low regeneration temperatures (T.sub.reg) compared to traditional desiccants. TRHC desiccants may be synthesized by freeze drying. The porous structures resulting from freeze drying copolymers of thermo-responsive polymers and/or hygroscopic agents may be combined with hygroscopic inorganic salts, resulting in TRHC desiccants having superior performance properties.

A metal trap for an FCC catalyst include pre-formed microspheres impregnated with a salt of calcium and/or magnesium and an organic acid salt of a rare earth element.

The invention provides a solid material for air purification and disinfection and a preparation method and application thereof. The solid material includes: 50-60 wt. % of inorganic porous materials, 10-20 wt. % of nano titanium dioxide, 3-5 wt. % of fluorescent materials, 20-30 wt. % of sodium chlorite, 3-5 wt. % of sodium lignosulfonate, 1-10 wt. % of polyethylene glycol, and 1-10 wt. % of polyvinyl alcohol. The method for preparing the solid material includes: formulating the fluorescent material into a slurry by using a polyethylene glycol aqueous solution; uniformly mixing the nano titanium dioxide, the sodium lignosulfonate, and the fluorescent material formulated into the slurry, and then spraying the mixture on an inorganic porous material carrier to be uniformly adsorbed; and mixing the sodium chlorite with the above mixture for granulation to obtain the product. The solid material for air purification of the invention can be stored stably for a long time, and chlorine dioxide gas slowly released can degrade harmful substances in the air such as formaldehyde and kill bacteria in the air.

Novel sorbents, devices, kits and methods useful for sample treatment are disclosed herein.

It is provided that an electret having excellent filtering performance and a filter using the electret even in a case where polyolefin resin and magnesium element are contained. An electret comprising a polyolefin resin and a nitrogen-containing compound, wherein 0.1 to 5 parts by mass of the nitrogen-containing compound is contained to 100 parts by mass of the polyolefin resin, a proportion of a magnesium element contained in the electret is 5 to 100 ppm, and a QF value represented by the following formula is not less than 1.00 mmAq.sup.−1 when particles having particle diameters of 0.3 to 0.5 μm are to be collected.

QF [mmAq.sup.−1]=— [1n (particle penetration (%)/100)]/[ventilation resistance (mmAq)]

Composite granules that include metal-containing polymeric materials, and composite granules that include metal complex-containing polymeric materials are provided. The polymeric materials are divinylbenzene/maleic anhydride polymers, partially hydrolyzed divinylbenzene/maleic anhydride polymers, or fully hydrolyzed divinylbenzene/maleic anhydride polymers. Additionally, methods of using the composite granules that include metal-containing polymeric materials to capture volatile, basic nitrogen-containing compounds and methods of using composite granules that include zinc-containing polymeric material to detect the presence of water vapor are provided.

Aspects described herein relate generally to adsorbent systems and methods for capturing and/or separating organic species (e.g., uncharged organic species) from mixtures with water.