Embodiments of the present invention include a filter element for decomposing contaminants including a substrate, and a photocatalytic composition comprising at least a photocatalyst and a co-catalyst. The embodiments of the present invention also includes a system for decomposing contaminants including a substrate, and a photocatalytic composition comprising at least a photocatalyst and a co-catalyst; and a method using the system.

The invention relates to a method of separating a first contaminant from a feed stream further comprising a condensation polymer. The invention further relates to a reactor system for carrying out the method, comprising at least one depolymerization vessel, configured for depolymerizing a condensation polymer into monomer, dimer, trimer and/or oligomer, which depolymerizing occurs in an alcoholic solvent, wherein said condensation polymer is provided as a feed stream further comprising a first contaminant, the reactor system comprising a separation stage, said separation stage comprising a separation vessel, downstream of the depolymerization vessel, configured for collecting a first contaminant, wherein said first contaminant is separated from the alcoholic solvent on the basis of a density separation so that the first contaminant is arranged on top of the alcoholic solvent.

A method of making a hollow fiber carbon molecular sieve is comprised of heating a hollow polymer fiber to a carbonization temperature in an atmosphere that is non-oxidizing to form a hollow fiber carbon molecular sieve, wherein during at least a portion of the heating a tensile force is applied to the hollow polymer fiber. The method may improve the separation of gases similar in size such a propylene from propane.

A contaminant removal system for removing a contaminant from an environment includes a gas separator, a scrubber-separator downstream of the gas separator, and a stripper-separator downstream of the scrubber-separator. The gas separator is configured to receive a cabin air stream from the environment and concentrate the contaminant from the cabin air stream to produce a concentrated cabin air stream. The cabin air stream includes the contaminant, and the concentrated cabin air stream has a higher concentration of the contaminant than the cabin air stream. The scrubber-separator is configured to absorb the contaminant from the concentrated cabin air stream into a liquid sorbent and discharge a clean air stream to the environment. The stripper-separator is configured to desorb the contaminant from the liquid sorbent into a contaminant stream.

A nanocomposite has a core-shell structure with an outer shell and an inner core. The, outer shell is a graphitized carbon film, and the inner core contains nickel oxide and alumina, with a nickel oxide content of 59%-80%, an alumina content of 19%-40%, and a carbon content of not more than 1%, based on the total weight of the nanocomposite. The process for catalytic combustion of volatile organic compounds may utilize the nanocomposite as a catalyst.

Hydrogen purification devices and their components are disclosed. In some embodiments, the devices may include at least one foil-microscreen assembly disposed between and secured to first and second end frames. The at least one foil-microscreen assembly may include at least one hydrogen-selective membrane and at least one microscreen structure including a non-porous planar sheet having a plurality of apertures forming a plurality of fluid passages. The planar sheet may include generally opposed planar surfaces configured to provide support to the permeate side. The plurality of fluid passages may extend between the opposed surfaces. The at least one hydrogen-selective membrane may be metallurgically bonded to the at least one microscreen structure. In some embodiments, the devices may include a permeate frame having at least one membrane support structure that spans at least a substantial portion of an open region and that is configured to support at least one foil-microscreen assembly.

A method of purifying gaseous mixtures, for example ternary or quaternary gaseous mixtures, using a sorbent media comprising two or more sorbent materials. The method involves obtaining a target gas from a gaseous composition comprising the target gas, a first gas and a second gas, and optionally further gases by contacting the gaseous composition with the sorbent media to remove at least some of the first gas and at least some of the second gas from the gaseous composition. The sorbent media comprises at least a first sorbent material and a second sorbent material; wherein the first sorbent material has a higher adsorption selectivity for the first gas than for the target gas; and wherein the second sorbent material has a higher adsorption selectivity for the second gas than for target gas. The method may be particularly useful for the separation of pure ethylene, methane or propylene from such gaseous mixtures. A sorbent media and an apparatus for obtaining a target gas from such a gaseous composition are also disclosed.

Deleterious gas is captured from atmospheric air using capture units dispersed across a geographic region. Each unit has a filter that is capable of capturing compounds from the gas from air when air is passed through the filter by fans. The units additionally include a sensor for sensing a level of the gas in the air. An electronic processor controls the fan, and communicates data from the sensor to other units and/or a central electronic processor. The electronic processors of the units or the central processor controls the fan speed of units in areas of higher concentration of the gas, selecting which units to become active based upon a proximity of each unit to the gas concentration, as well as a direction of movement of the concentration. A communicated presence of errors or a low battery state of a unit, is used by the processor to select other units nearby for operation instead of the affected unit.

Cavitand compositions that comprise void spaces are disclosed. The void spaces may be empty, which means that voids are free of guest molecules or atoms, or the void spaces may comprise guest molecules or atoms that are normally in their gas phase at standard temperature and pressure. These cavitands may be useful for industrial applications, such as the separation or storage of gasses. Novel cavitand compounds are also disclosed.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a metal-organic framework composition including a metal-organic framework having an ana topology, the metal-organic framework including one or more metals connected to one or more organic linkers. Embodiments of the present disclosure further provide a method of separating chemical species including contacting a metal-organic framework having an ana topology with a flow of paraffins and separating the paraffins.