Sorbent material sheets provide for enhanced performance in vapor adsorbing applications over conventional canisters and other emissions control equipment. The sorbent material sheets can be formed as part of a small, lightweight canister, or can be integrated into a fuel tank. The sorbent material sheets can also be used as part of an onboard refueling vapor recovery system to control volatile organic compound emissions from fuel tanks of gasoline vehicles, such as automobiles.

A gas separation method includes supplying a mixed gas to a zeolite membrane complex and permeating a high permeability gas through the zeolite membrane complex to separate the high permeability gas from other gases. The mixed gas includes a high permeability gas and a trace gas that is lower in concentration than the high permeability gas. The trace gas contains an organic substance whose molar concentration in the mixed gas is higher than or equal to 1.0 mol %. The adsorption equilibrium constant of the organic substance on the zeolite membrane is less than 150 times the adsorption equilibrium constant of the high permeability gas.

A method for producing a crystalline film comprising zeolite and/or zeolite-like crystals on a porous substrate is described. The method has the steps of: providing a porous support; modifying at least a surface of the top-layer of said porous support by treatment with a composition having one or more cationic polymer(s); rendering at least the outer surface of said porous support hydrophobic by treatment with a composition having one or more hydrophobic agent(s); subjecting said treated porous support to a composition having zeolite and/or zeolite-like crystals thereby depositing and attaching zeolite and/or zeolite-like crystals on said treated porous support, and growing a crystalline film of zeolite and/or zeolite-like crystals on said treated porous support and calcination. Crystalline films find use in a variety of fields such as in the production of membranes, catalysts etc.

Porous solid amine adsorbents are prepared by bringing into contact a first (e.g., dope) solution, including a water insoluble polymer and a water-soluble amine polymer, with an aqueous solution containing a multifunctional chemical agent. The first solution can be obtained by dissolving the water insoluble polymer and the water-soluble amine polymer in a polar solvent. The adsorbents can be in the form of beads, sheets, fibers, hollow fibers, etc. and can be used in the removal of acid gases, CO.sub.2, for instance, from fluid streams.

A carbon-polymer complex is provided and includes a porous carbon material and a binder, wherein the porous carbon material includes a material obtained from carbonization of a raw material including rice husk, the raw material having a silicon content of at least 5 wt %, the raw material is heat treated before carbonization, and the raw material is treated by an alkali treatment after carbonization to reduce the silicon content, the porous carbon material having a specific surface area of at least 10 m.sup.2/g as measured by the nitrogen BET method, a pore volume of at least 0.1 cm.sup.3/g as measured by the BJH method and MP method, and an R value of 1.5 or greater, wherein the porous carbon material includes mesopores having pore sizes from 2 nm to 50 nm and obtained from the alkali treatment of the raw material after carbonization, the porous carbon material further includes macropores and micropores.

A method for removing aromatic compounds from a hydrocarbon fluid comprises contacting the hydrocarbon fluid with a solid-phase polymeric material. The solid-phase polymeric material comprises a cross-linked polymer which contains aromatic groups. The method may be used to prevent the build-up of sludge and soot in a lubricant system in an internal combustion engine. A polymer bead comprising a solid-phase polymeric material is also provided.

Process for the removal of particulate matter from an aqueous stream containing a concentrated acid, preferably concentrated sulfuric acid, the process including mechanical filtration by passing the aqueous stream through a filter unit, the filter unit including a metallic, ceramic or polymeric filter, or a filter including a filter aid on a septum. The aqueous stream is the exit stream of a sulfuric acid condenser, optionally the exit stream of a sulfuric acid concentrator arranged downstream the sulfuric acid condenser.

Composite materials for removing hydrophobic components from a fluid include a porous matrix polymer, carbon nanotubes grafted to surfaces of the porous matrix polymer, and polystyrene chains grafted to the carbon nanotubes. Examples of porous matrix polymer include polyurethanes, polyethylenes, and polypropylenes. Membranes of the composite material may be enclosed within a fluid-permeable pouch to form a fluid treatment apparatus, such that by contacting the apparatus with a fluid mixture containing water and a hydrophobic component, the hydrophobic component absorbs selectively into the membrane. The apparatus may be removed from the fluid mixture and reused after the hydrophobic component is expelled from the membrane. The composite material may be prepared by grafting functionalized carbon nanotubes to a porous matrix polymer to form a polymer-nanotube composite, then polymerizing styrene onto the carbon nanotubes of the polymer-nanotube composite.

Disclosed are air-stable small-molecule adsorbents trimeric [Cu—Br].sub.3 and [Cu—H].sub.3 that undergo a reversible solid-state molecular rearrangements to [Cu—Br.(alkene)].sub.2 and [Cu—H.(alkene)].sub.2 dimers. The reversible solid-state rearrangement allows one to break adsorbent design trade-offs and achieve low heat of adsorption while retaining high selectivity and uptake.

Provided is a water-absorbent resin which is capable of giving an absorbent material improved gel-shape stability and which has excellent water-absorption capacity. A water-absorbent resin of the present invention is a polymer of a water-soluble ethylenically unsaturated monomer, and has the following properties (1) and (2): (1) A disintegration amount at 20-fold swelling is 30% by mass or less; and (2) a solubility in physiological saline is 25% by mass or less. (Determination Method for Disintegration Amount at 20-Fold Swelling) 5 g of the water-absorbent resin is added to 100 g of physiological saline to allow the water-absorbent resin to absorb the physiological saline, thereby obtaining a gel. The obtained gel is divided approximately equally into five portions, and these portions are introduced respectively into cylindrical molds having a length of 3.6 cm and a radius of 2.8 cm and molded. The masses of the five molded cylindrical gels are measured. The heaviest and the lightest of the five gels are removed, and the remaining three gels are used as samples. A mass Wa (g) of each sample is measured. Each weighed sample is placed on the uppermost sieve of a combination of JIS standard sieves having a mesh size of 5.6 mm and a receptacle in this order and shaken for 10 minutes using a Ro-Tap shaker (rotation speed, 290 rpm; number of taps, 165 rpm). A mass Wb (g) of the gel which has passed through the sieves is measured. The disintegration amount of each sample is calculated using the following equation: Disintegration amount of sample (%)=Wb (g)/Wa (g)×100. An average of the disintegration amounts for three samples to be measured is regarded as the disintegration amount at 20-fold swelling of the water-absorbent resin.