A sorbent composition that is useful for injection into a flue gas stream of a coal burning furnace to efficiently remove mercury from the flue gas stream. The sorbent composition may include a sorbent with an associated ancillary catalyst component that is a catalytic metal, a precursor to a catalytic metal, a catalytic metal compound or a precursor to a catalytic metal compound. Alternatively, a catalytic metal or metal compound, or their precursors, may be admixed with the coal feedstock prior to or during combustion in the furnace, or may be independently injected into a flue gas stream. A catalytic promoter may also be used to enhance the performance of the catalytic metal or metal compound.

An acid gas adsorbent that reversibly adsorbs an acid gas contained in a gas to be processed includes: metal oxide porous material particles; and an acid gas adsorbing agent with which the porous material particles are impregnated. Each of the porous material particles has binary pores including: a mesopore having a pore diameter in a nanometer region of 2 nm or more and 200 nm or less; and a macropore having a pore diameter in a micrometer region of more than 0.2 μm. The macropore is an empty pore, and the mesopore is filled with the acid gas adsorbing agent.

A metal-organic framework of the present disclosure includes tetravalent Group IV element ions or rare earth ions as metal ions, first ions of organic molecules having a trimesic acid framework as tridentate ligands, and second ions of organic molecules having a heterocycle and two carboxy groups as bidentate ligands.

A nucleophilic substitution reaction to crosslink cyclodextrin (CD) polymer with rigid aromatic groups, providing a high surface area, mesoporous CD-containing polymers (P-CDPs). The P-CDPs can be used for removing organic contaminants from water. By encapsulating pollutants to form well-defined host-guest complexes with complementary selectivities to activated carbon (AC) sorbents. The P-CDPs can rapidly sequester pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and other organic micropollutants, achieving equilibrium binding capacity in seconds with adsorption rate constants 15-200 times greater than ACs and nonporous CD sorbents. The CD polymer can be regenerated several times, through a room temperature washing procedure, with no loss in performance.

A chromatography method in which a gaseous, liquid or supercritical mobile phase containing species to be separated is circulated through a packing. The packing includes a plurality of capillary ducts extending in the packing between an upstream face through which the mobile phase enters the packing and a downstream face through which the mobile phase leaves the packing. A continuous medium permeable to molecular diffusion extends between the ducts, including a porous organic gel or an organic liquid with at least one network of connected pores, the size of which is greater than two times the molecular diameter of at least one species to be separated. The at least one species has a diffusive path between the ducts.

The present invention concerns a method of decarbonating a gas stream containing from 15% to 60% carbon dioxide, by passage of the said gas stream over a zeolitic agglomerate comprising at least one binder and at at least one zeolite, and having a mesoporous volume of between 0.02 cm.sup.3.Math.g.sup.1 and 0.15 cm.sup.3.Math.g.sup.1 and a mesoporous volume fraction of between 0.1 and 0.5, preferably between 0.15 and 0.45.

A nucleophilic substitution reaction to crosslink cyclodextrin (CD) polymer with rigid aromatic groups, providing a high surface area, mesoporous CD-containing polymers (P-CDPs). The P-CDPs can be used for removing organic contaminants from water. By encapsulating pollutants to form well-defined host-guest complexes with complementary selectivities to activated carbon (AC) sorbents. The P-CDPs can rapidly sequester pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and other organic micropollutants, achieving equilibrium binding capacity in seconds with adsorption rate constants 15-200 times greater than ACs and nonporous CD sorbents. The CD polymer can be regenerated several times, through a room temperature washing procedure, with no loss in performance.

The invention relates to a chromatography method in which a gaseous, liquid or supercritical mobile phase containing species to be separated is circulated through a packing, said packing comprising: a plurality of capillary ducts extending in the packing between an upstream face through which the mobile phase enters the packing and a downstream face through which the mobile phase leaves the packing, and a continuous medium permeable to molecular diffusion extending between said ducts, comprising a porous organic gel or an organic liquid and including at least one network of connected pores, the size of which is greater than two times the molecular diameter of at least one species to be separated and opening to the ducts, so as to give said at least one species a diffusive path between said ducts. The invention also relates to a packing for the implementation of such a method and a method for manufacturing such a packing.

A method for preparing a metal-organic framework (MOF) comprising contacting one or more of a rare earth metal ion component with one or more of a tetratopic ligand component, sufficient to form a rare earth-based MOF for controlling moisture in an environment. A method of moisture control in an environment comprising adsorbing and/or desorbing water vapor in an environment using a MOF, the MOF including one or more of a rare earth metal ion component and one or more of a tetratopic ligand component. A method of controlling moisture in an environment comprising sensing the relative humidity in the environment comprising a MOF; and adsorbing water vapor on the MOF if the relative humidity is above a first level, sufficient to control moisture in an environment.

A multi-functional composition of matter that is useful for injection into a flue gas stream to rapidly and efficiently remove mercury from the flue gas streams, particularly at above average flue stream temperatures of about 340 F. or higher. The multi-functional composition of matter may include a fixed carbon content of at least about 20 wt. %, a mineral content of from about 20 wt. % to about 50 wt. %, a sum of micropore plus mesopore volume of at least about 0.20 cc/g, a micropore volume to mesopore volume ratio of at least about 0.7, and a tapped density of not greater than about 0.575 g/ml. These compositions may be further characterized by number of particles per gram of the composition of matter such that the composition may have at least about 0.8 billion particles per gram, or even as many as 1.5 billion particles per gram. These physical and chemical properties may enhance (1) the oxidation reaction kinetics for the oxidation of mercury species, (2) frequency of contact events, and (3) capture and sequestration of mercury, to achieve efficient mercury capture by the composition even in high temperature flue gas streams.