A porous activated asphaltene material is described with a method of making and a method of using for the adsorption of a contaminant from a solution. The porous activated asphaltene material may be made by functionalizing solid asphaltene with nitric acid, and then treating the product with a metal hydroxide. The resulting porous activated asphaltene material exhibits a high porosity, and may be cleaned and reused for adsorbing contaminants.

A composite material is provided comprising a porous polymeric matrix having metal-organic framework (MOF) domains dispersed within the porous polymeric matrix, each of said MOF domains in fluid communication with the external environment through the pores in the porous polymeric matrix. A process of using the composite material to chemically modify or detoxify a chemical warfare agent or a toxic industrial chemical is also provided. The chemical warfare agent or the toxic industrial chemical is brought into contact with a MOF domain within the porous polymeric matrix so that the MOFs adsorb and chemically modify the chemical warfare agent or the toxic industrial chemical. A process for producing such a composite material is also disclosed.

A method of forming an activated carbon sorbent from a seagrass. The method involves treating a seagrass with a base solution to form an intermediate solid, drying the intermediate solid to form a precursor, and pyrolyzing the precursor at 600 to 1000° C. to form the activated carbon sorbent. Preferably the seagrass is Halodule uninervis. The activated carbon sorbent is used in a method of removing an organic pollutant from a contaminated water. Preferred organic pollutants removed are phenols, specifically 2,4-dimethylphenol and 2,4-dichlorophenol.

A porous activated asphaltene material is described with a method of making and a method of using for the adsorption of a contaminant from a solution. The porous activated asphaltene material may be made by functionalizing solid asphaltene with nitric acid, and then treating the product with a metal hydroxide. The resulting porous activated asphaltene material exhibits a high porosity, and may be cleaned and reused for adsorbing contaminants.

The present invention relates to an adsorbent comprising an alumina support and at least one alkali element, said adsorbent being obtained by introducing at least one alkali element, identical to or different from sodium, onto an alumina support the sodium content of which, expressed as Na.sub.2O equivalent, before the introduction of the alkali element or elements, is comprised between 1000 and 5000 ppm by weight with respect to the total weight of the support. The invention also relates to processes for the preparation of said adsorbent and use thereof in a process for the elimination of acidic molecules such as COS and/or CO.sub.2.

A porous activated asphaltene material is described with a method of making and a method of using for the adsorption of a contaminant from a solution. The porous activated asphaltene material may be made by functionalizing solid asphaltene with nitric acid, and then treating the product with a metal hydroxide. The resulting porous activated asphaltene material exhibits a high porosity, and may be cleaned and reused for adsorbing contaminants.

Disclosed herein is a wastewater treatment reactor that makes use of activated carbon as the adsorbent. The wastewater treatment reaction is suitable for use in an electrochemical advanced oxidation process and includes a cathode and anode, where the cathode is arranged to incorporate activate carbon and carbon brushes. Also disclosed herein are methods making use of the reactor for adsorption of contaminants and its regeneration.

Macroporous desiccant based honeycomb matrix containing the macroporous desiccant synthesized “in-situ”, the desiccant having a differential water adsorption. Process for the “in-situ” preparation of the macroporous desiccant based honeycomb matrix including the steps of soaking honeycomb substrate impregnated with water glass, in aqueous metal salt(s) solution or acid solution, or combination thereof, until such time that the hydrogel honeycomb matrix is obtained and thermally activating the hydrogel honeycomb matrix to produce macroporous desiccant based honeycomb matrix.

The present invention relates to novel sulfur-doped carbonaceous porous materials. The present invention also relates to processes for the preparation of these materials and to the use of these materials in applications such as gas adsorption, mercury and gold capture, gas storage and as catalysts or catalyst supports.

The invention relates to a method to produce a particulate activated carbon material for capturing CO.sub.2 from air, wherein the particulate activated carbon is impregnated with alkali carbonate salt such as K.sub.2CO.sub.3; and wherein the impregnated particulate activated carbon either has, determined using nitrogen adsorption methods, a pore volume of at least 0.10 cm.sup.3/g for pore sizes of at least 5 nm and a pore volume of at most 0.30 cm.sup.3/g for pore sizes of less than 2 nm or is based on a mixture of different alkali carbonate salts, or has a particular pore surface for pore sizes in the range of 2 nm-50 nm.