A substantially insoluble compound having a polysaccharide backbone which is derivatised at one or more of its hydroxyl groups with a ligand (L) bound to the sugar moiety by a sulphur atom which may be tailored according to a wide range of applications. The compound is useful as a catalyst and in removal of contaminants from a feed containing particularly metal ions.

The present description provides adsorbent compositions and materials, and systems comprising the same that provide low DBL bleed emission performance. The described materials provide unexpected production advantages as compared to currently available materials.

Certain embodiments of the invention are directed to nitrogen rich three dimensional C.sub.3N.sub.4+ mesoporous graphitic carbon nitride (gMCN) material formed from diaminoguanidine precursors, the gMCN having a spherical morphology and an average monomodal pore diameter between 6.5 to 9.5 nm.

Zinc oxide-based sorbents, and processes for preparing and using them are provided, wherein the sorbents are preferably used to remove one or more reduced sulfur species from gas streams. The sorbents contain an active zinc component, optionally in combination with one or more promoter components and/or one or more substantially inert components. The active zinc component is a two-phase material, consisting essentially of a zinc oxide (ZnO) phase and a zinc aluminate (ZnAl.sub.2O.sub.4) phase. Each of the two phases is characterized by a relatively small crystallite size of typically less than about 50 nm (500 Angstroms). Preferably the sorbents are prepared by using an alkali metal base to convert a precursor mixture, containing a precipitated zinc oxide precursor and a precipitated aluminum oxide precursor, to the two-phase, active zinc oxide containing component, with the resulting sorbent having a sodium level within a desired range.

Provided is a sandbag which is unlikely to break down even when using water-absorbing resin particles therein. A sandbag having a water-permeable bag and water-absorbing resin particles stored in the bag, wherein the pure-water absorption factor of the water-absorbing resin particles is at least a factor of 1,000, and the compression-breaking stress of the water-absorbing resin particles when swollen with pure water is at least 0.1N.

A sample is stored in a container (125) disposed upstream of a back-pressure control valve (140). A mixed fluid of carbon dioxide in a supercritical state and a modifier is introduced into the container, and a component contained in the sample is extracted. The extracted component is introduced into a trap column (135) together with the carbon dioxide and the modifier and collected in the trap column. The trap column is loaded with polymer beads as a filler.

Provided are a toxin separator and the like which are capable of selectively separating toxin present in a biological fluid by binding to protein, from the toxin and the protein. The toxin separator of the present invention also includes activated carbon of which a pore volume of pores having a pore diameter from 1.4 to 35 nm as measured by a nitrogen adsorption method is 0.06 cm.sup.3/g or greater.

Highly spherical sorbents of porous hydroxyapatite materials and methods of producing these sorbents are disclosed. The sorbents of the present invention have good mechanical stability and are useful as chromatography media for the separation of biomolecules, such as proteins and nucleic acids.

The present invention relates to a method for measuring a polymer modification ratio, and more particularly, to a method for measuring a polymer modification ratio, which includes preparing a first solution by dissolving a polymer mixture containing a modified polymer and an unmodified polymer in a first solvent, injecting the first solution into a column filled with an adsorbent, adsorbing the modified polymer onto the adsorbent, and eluting the first solution in which the unmodified polymer is dissolved, transferring the eluted first solution to a detector, injecting a second solvent into the column to elute the second solution in which the adsorbed modified polymer is dissolved, and transferring the eluted second solution to the detector.

A process of conversion of fuel grade coke produced through thermal cracking of heavy petroleum residue to anode grade coke. The process employs high sulfur fuel grade coke as the feedstock to produce low sulfur coke, which can be used to manufacture electrodes for use in the aluminum industry. A related system is adapted to remove metal content from coke and convert fuel grade coke to anode grade coke.