Water insoluble carbonates are utilized as adsorbents to remove phosphates from water flowing through an iron impregnated or coated foam. The iron impregnated or coated foam acts to improve the removal of phosphates as well as to remove nitrates and ammonia. A powdered carbonates/binder mixture, i.e. MgCO.sub.3 and/or La.sub.2(CO.sub.3).sub.3 mixed with cellulose, is formed into pellets then calcined. Aqueous phosphates adsorb onto the surface area of the pellet for eventual removal. Calcining the pellets removes the cellulose binder and opens the interior of the pellet up to provide additional surface area for adsorption. These pellets are placed within a porous bag and placed with water, preferably within a flow of water.

In one aspect, an oxygenated hierarchically porous carbon (an O-HPC) is provided, the O-HPC comprising: a hierarchically porous carbon (an UPC), the HPC comprising a surface, the surface comprising: (A) first order pores having an average diameter of between about 1 m and about 10 m; and (B) walls separating the first order pores, the walls comprising: (1) second order pores having a peak diameter between about 7 nm and about 130 nm; and (2) third order pores having an average diameter of less than about 4 nm, wherein at least a portion of the HPC surface has been subjected to O.sub.2 plasma to oxygenate and induce a negative charge to the surface. In one aspect, the O-HPC further comprises metal nanoparticles dispersed within the first, second, and third order pores. Methods for making and using the metal nanoparticle-impregnated O-HPCs are also provided.

The present disclosure relates to a solid amine adsorbent of CO.sub.2 and a method for preparing the same. The method includes: providing pseudo boehmite; pore-enlarging the pseudo boehmite; calcining the pore-enlarged pseudo boehmite to obtain an aluminum oxide powder; and impregnating the aluminum oxide powder in an organic amine solution, and drying to obtain the solid amine adsorbent of CO.sub.2.

Sponge-like porous polypropylene thin film, and a method for preparing a sponge-like porous polypropylene thin film. The method includes dissolving polypropylene in an organic solvent to form a solution under reflux condition; adding a cavity forming agent to the solution and mixing the solution until the cavity forming agent is well-dispersed therein; applying the well-dispersed solution onto the solid substrate through spin coating to form a thin film on the solid substrate; peeling the thin film off the solid substrate; extracting the cavity forming agent from the peeled thin film by washing the peeled thin film in an aqueous or nonaqueous solvent, thereby obtaining a sponge-like porous polypropylene thin film with cavities, macro-voids, and micropores. The sponge-like porous polypropylene thin film is used as an oil sorbent. The sponge-like porous polypropylene thin film has about 400 to about 700 swellable cavities per cm.sup.2.

The present invention relates to calcium hydroxide particles having a total pore volume greater than 0.18 cm.sup.3/g, said total pore volume being calculated with the BJH method for a range of pores having a diameter of between 20 and 1000 , said particles being characterized in that the BJH partial pore volume for the range of pores having a diameter of between 20 and 100 corresponds to more than 20% of said BJH total pore volume.

An activated carbon manufacturing method may include preparing activated carbon precursors, carbonizing the activated carbon precursors by performing a heat treatment on the activated carbon precursors, equalizing the activated carbon precursors carbonized, in the carbonizing, by grinding the activated carbon precursors, activating the activated carbon precursors by inserting an oxidizing agent and distilled water into the equalized activated carbon precursors and performing a heat treatment on the activated carbon precursors, and introducing metal oxide particles into the activated carbon precursors by mixing the activated precursors, a metal salt, and a reducing agent in a solvent to perform reaction on the activated carbon precursors.

The invention relates to novel composites for capture, e.g., absorption, of condensable gases and vapors from atmospheric sources, and gas or vapor streams, and the recovery of the condensed gases and vapors from the composites, as well as passive methods absent of external sources of energy for conducting the capturing and recovery processes. The composites include a hydrophilic matrix; hydrophilic solids embedded or immersed in the matrix, in close proximity to each other; and porogenic material embedded in the matrix, having a size larger than the hydrophilic solids; wherein selective removal of the porogenic material from the matrix forms a hierarchically porous matrix.

The present disclosure relates to a preparing method of a super absorbent polymer sheet and a super absorbent polymer sheet prepared therefrom. The preparing method of a super absorbent polymer sheet of the present disclosure may prepare a porous flexible super absorbent polymer sheet exhibiting high flexibility and fast absorption rate.

A porous calcium silicate hydrate, a preparation method thereof and an adsorbent are provided. The preparation method of the porous calcium silicate hydrate includes: leaching fly ash with an alkali agent to obtain a silicate leaching solution; adding the silicate leaching solution dropwise to a calcium hydroxide suspension at a constant rate, and conducting stirring and a heating reaction to obtain a calcium silicate hydrate gel; and mixing the calcium silicate hydrate gel with an organic alcohol solvent, conducting azeotropic distillation, and then conducting separation, drying and calcination to obtain the porous calcium silicate hydrate.

Disclosed in the present disclosure are a lithium adsorbent and a preparation method therefor. The lithium adsorbent has a porous structure, and includes an aluminum-based lithium adsorbent active material and a hydrophilic binder; and the lithium adsorbent has an average pore diameter ranging from 1 nm to 10 nm, a pore volume ranging from 0.65 ml/g to 0.8 ml/g, and a specific surface area ranging from 400 m.sup.2/g to 600 m.sup.2/g. The lithium adsorbent of the present disclosure has a specific average pore size ranging from 1 nm to 10 nm, lithium ions have a diameter of 0.3 nm, and the pore size of the lithium adsorbent of the present disclosure is three times or more greater than the diameter of the ions so that the lithium ions can quickly enter and exit pores. Therefore, the structure can ensure high adsorption efficiency and high desorption efficiency at a high flow rate, and allows desorption to be more concentrated than that of a general lithium adsorbent to reduce tailing, and can effectively improve the lithium production efficiency. Moreover, the product of the present disclosure has a pore size of less than 10 nm, allowing the lithium adsorbent to have a low dissolution loss rate and a long service life, and the lithium adsorbent of the present disclosure still has high adsorption efficiency and high desorption efficiency after 1000 cycles of adsorption and desorption.