Covalently cross-linked copolymers are described herein. More specifically, polysaccharide-polyamine copolymeric matrices or structures and cationic copolymeric matrices are described herein. The polysaccharide-polyamine copolymers, when protonated, can form cationic copolymeric matrices having exceptionally high densities of cationic sites. In one form, the covalently cross-linked copolymers provide a three-dimensional structure, especially when hydrated.

The present invention provides a process for preparing a functionalised polymeric chromatography medium, which process comprises (I) providing two or more non-woven sheets stacked one on top of the other, each said sheet comprising one or more polymer nanofibres, (II) simultaneously heating and pressing the stack of sheets to fuse points of contact between the nanofibres of adjacent sheets, and (III) contacting the pressed and heated product with a reagent which functionalises the product of step (II) as a chromatography medium.

The invention includes methods for removing higher acetylenes from a gaseous stream that includes a hydrogen fraction and a non-hydrogen fraction, wherein the gaseous stream includes less than about 4% in total of diacetylene and vinylacetylene, where the method includes the following steps: (i) an adsorption that passes the gaseous stream at a preselected superficial linear gas velocity across an adsorption bed supported within an enclosure, the adsorption bed containing a crystalline porous ceramic adsorbent to adsorb the higher acetylenes onto the adsorbent, thereby producing a saturated adsorption bed and a purified gaseous stream including less than about 25 ppm of diacetylene that regenerates the saturated adsorbent bed by passing a regeneration gas across the saturated adsorption bed to desorb the higher acetylenes retained thereupon, thereby producing a regenerated adsorbent bed and a contaminated gas stream bearing the higher acetylenes; and (iii) a purging step that removes the contaminated gas stream from the enclosure. The invention also includes systems for removing diacetylene and vinylacetylene from a hydrogen-dominant acetylene-hydrogen gaseous stream.

A polyelectrolyte coated fly ash is described with a method of making and a method of using for the adsorption of a contaminant from a solution. The polyelectrolyte coated fly ash may be made by treating the oil fly ash with acid, and then contacting the product with a positive polyelectrolyte to create a first polyelectrolyte layer, and then with a negative polyelectrolyte to create a negative polyelectrolyte layer. The resulting polyelectrolyte coated fly ash quickly adsorbs contaminants from solution, and may be cleaned and reused.

A method of manufacturing a sorbent material is described, to include mixing a first granular material containing iron and a second granular material containing aluminum hydroxide. The first granular material and the second granular material are mixed in a proportion such that a ratio of Fe to Al is between 0.5 and 3.5 by weight. The second granular material has an Al content (including aluminum hydroxide phases) of at least 30% by weight. The mixture is subjected to a thermal treatment at a temperature between 400 C. and 950 C. to obtain a sorbent material comprising a first phase rich in iron oxides bound by a matrix rich in aluminum oxide, and the obtained sorbent material has a compressive strength of at least 3 MPa.

Disclosed herein are activated carbons having high decolorization performance in liquid phases, especially in liquid phases having relatively high viscosities, such as sugar liquids, and methods for producing the activated carbons. Activated carbons disclosed herein include activated carbons having a pore volume at a pore diameter of 10 to 10000 nm measured by the mercury intrusion method of 0.8 to 1.9 mL/g, and having a pore volume at a pore diameter of 300 to 1000 nm measured by the mercury intrusion method of 0.19 mL/g or more.

The present disclosure is directed to methods of removing proteins, including cytokines, from blood and blood products, the methods comprising contacting the blood or blood product with a form of carbon having high graphitic contents and slit-shaped mesopores and macropores, the pore size dimensions chosen to be comparable to the size of the proteins, wherein the contacting results in the removal of high levels of the protein from the blood or blood product in minutes or hours.

A sorbent material is disclosed for the one-step separation of bio-macromolecules in a single pass extraction of DNA from complex mixtures of molecules and chemicals. In one embodiment, the sorbent material comprises a silanized material at least partially coated or formed with a polymer selected from the group consisting of a poly(aryl methacrylate), a poly(aryl acrylate), a poly(heteroaryl methacrylate, a poly(heteroaryl acrylate) and a copolymer thereof.

A composite of polyurethane foam grafted with carbon nanofibers is described. This composite foam may be made by contacting and drying a polyurethane foam with a suspension of carbon nanofibers and then drying. Additional carbon nanofiber layers may be added with repeated contacting. The composite film has a high surface area of 276 m.sup.2/g and a hydrophobic character that may be exploited for separating an oil phase from water.

A range of carbon materials can be produced using lignin in combination with synthetic phenolic resins or naturally occurring lingo-cellulosic materials. The lignin, which is essentially a naturally occurring phenolic resin, has a carbon yield on pyrolysis similar to that of the synthetic resins, which aids processing. The lignin can be used as a binder phase for synthetic resin or lignocellulosic materials allowing the production of monolithic carbons from a wide range of precursors, as the primary structural material where the thermal processing is modified by the addition of small quantities of synthetic resin materials or as structure modified in the production of meso/macro porous carbons in either bead, granular or monolithic form. A carbonised monolith is provided comprising mesoporous and/or macroporous carbon particles dispersed in a matrix of microporous carbon particles with voids between the particles defining paths for fluid to flow into and through the structure. The monolith may take the form of a shaped body having walls defining a multiplicity of internal transport channels for fluid flow, the transport channels being directed along the extrusion direction. The monolith may be made by carbonising a shaped phenolic body based on phenolic resin precursors. In a method for producing such a carbonisable shaped resin body solid particles of a first phenolic resin are provided which is partially cured so that the particles are sinterable but do not melt on carbonisation. The particles of the first phenolic resin are mixed with particles of a second phenolic resin that has a greater degree of cure than said first phenolic resin and has a mesoporous and/or macroporous microstructure that is preserved on carbonisation. The resulting mixture is formed into a dough e.g. by mixing the resin particles with methyl cellulose, PEO and water, after which the dough is extruded to form a shaped product and stabilising in its shape by sintering.