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.

In some aspects, the present disclosure pertains to chromatographic materials that comprise (a) a bulk material and (b) a zwitterionic polymer covalently linked to a surface of the bulk material, in which the zwitterionic polymer comprises one or more monomer residues that comprise an amide or urea moiety, a positively charged moiety, and a negatively charged moiety. Other aspects of the present disclosure pertain to chromatographic separation devices that comprise such chromatographic materials, to chromatographic methods that employ such chromatographic separation devices, and to kits that contain (i) such chromatographic materials and (ii) one or more chromatographic devices for containing such materials.

Disclosed herein are methods of producing metal nanoparticle-decorated carbon nanotubes. The methods include forming a reaction mixture by combining a first solution with a second solution, wherein the first solution comprises polymer-coated metal nanoparticles comprising metallic nanoparticles coated with a polymer, and wherein the second solution comprises carbon nanotubes. The methods also include heating the reaction mixture to a temperature greater than a glass transition temperature of the polymer for a time sufficient to cause the polymer-coated metal nanoparticles to bind to the carbon nanotubes forming the metal nanoparticle-decorated carbon nanotubes.

A method for creating a metal-carbon composite. In one embodiment, the method includes the steps of providing a polymer Schiff base transition metal .[.film.]. .Iadd.complex .Iaddend.precursor .Iadd.film .Iaddend.having a chemical structure of the formula [M(Schiff)].sub.n and a recurring unit and a transition metal selected from the group consisting of nickel, palladium, platinum, cobalt, copper, iron; Schiff is a tetradentate Schiff base ligand selected from the group consisting of Salen (residue of bis(salicylaldehyde)-ethylenediamine), Saltmen (residue of bis(salicylaldehyde)-tetramethylethylenediamine, Salphen (residue of bis-(salicylaldehyde)-o-phenylenediamine), a substituent in a Schiff base is selected from the group consisting of H—, and carbon-containing substituents, preferably CH.sub.3—, C.sub.2H.sub.5—, CH.sub.3O—, C.sub.2H.sub.5O—, and Y is a bridge in a Schiff base depositing the polymer Schiff base transition metal precursor film onto a support substrate; and heating the polymer Schiff base transition metal .Iadd.complex .Iaddend.precursor film and support substrate in a furnace in an inert atmosphere.

A smart sand includes raw sand particles, synthetic SiO.sub.2 particles attached to the raw sand particles, a first material attached to a first set of the synthetic SiO.sub.2 particles, a second material attached to a second set of the synthetic SiO.sub.2 particles, and a third material attached to the first material. Each of the first to third materials is different from each other.

A sorbent composition for the sequestration of mercury from a gas stream, a method for sequestering mercury from a gas stream and a method for the manufacture of a sorbent composition. The sorbent composition includes a highly porous particulate sorbent and at least two additive components, namely a non-halogen metal compound comprising a metal cation and an inorganic sulfur-containing compound, where at least a portion of the sulfur in the sulfur-containing compound has an oxidation state of equal to or less than +4. The method includes injecting the highly porous particulate sorbent and the two additive components into a gas stream, either discretely or as a single sorbent composition, to sequester mercury in the particulate sorbent. The method has a high degree of efficacy for mercury removal without requiring the addition of halogens to the gas stream.

A nucleophilic substitution reaction to crosslink cyclodextrin (CD) polymer with rigid aromatic groups, providing a high surface area, mesoporous CD-containing polymers (P-CDPs). The P-CDPs can be used for removing organic contaminants from water. By encapsulating pollutants to form well-defined host-guest complexes with complementary selectivities to activated carbon (AC) sorbents. The P-CDPs can rapidly sequester pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and other organic micropollutants, achieving equilibrium binding capacity in seconds with adsorption rate constants 15-200 times greater than ACs and nonporous CD sorbents. The CD polymer can be regenerated several times, through a room temperature washing procedure, with no loss in performance.

A method for analysing a crude oil to determine the amount of organic acid compounds contained in the crude oil includes extracting the organic acid compounds from a sample of crude oil to form an extract and determining the amount of the extracted organic acids In addition, the method includes dissolving the extract in a polar solvent to form a solution of the extracted organic acid compounds Further, the method includes introducing a sample of the solution of the extracted organic acid to an apparatus including a reversed phase liquid chromatography (LC) column and a mass spectrometer (MS) arranged in series. The reversed phase LC column contains a hydrophobic sorbent and the mobile phase for the LC column includes a polar organic solvent. Still further, the method includes separating the organic acid compounds in the LC column of the LC-MS apparatus and continuously passing the separated organic acid compounds from the LC column to the MS of the LC-MS apparatus to ionize the organic acid compounds and to obtain a chromatogram with mass spectral data over time for the ionized organic acid compounds. Moreover, the method includes determining the area(s) under the peak(s) in an extracted ion chromatogram derived from the mass spectral data assigned to one or more organic acid compounds. The method also includes determining the amount of the organic acid compound(s) in the sample by comparing the area under the peak(s) assigned to the organic acid compound(s) with the area under a peak in an extracted ion chromatogram assigned to a specific amount of a standard organic acid compound. In addition, the method includes extrapolating from the amount of the organic acid compound(s) in the sample to provide the total amount of the organic acid compound(s) in the extract.

A sorbent composition for the sequestration of mercury from a gas stream, a method for sequestering mercury from a gas stream and a method for the manufacture of a sorbent composition. The sorbent composition includes a highly porous particulate sorbent and at least two additive components, namely a non-halogen metal compound comprising a metal cation and an inorganic sulfur-containing compound, where at least a portion of the sulfur in the sulfur-containing compound has an oxidation state of equal to or less than +4. The method includes injecting the highly porous particulate sorbent and the two additive components into a gas stream, either discretely or as a single sorbent composition, to sequester mercury in the particulate sorbent. The method has a high degree of efficacy for mercury removal without requiring the addition of halogens to the gas stream.

A medium for fast, selective oil-water separation and/or oil absorption includes steel wool modified with a polymer a polymer or a polymer mixture. The polymer or the polymer mixture is adapted such that the medium is a superwetting material that is superhydrophobic and superoleophilic under water. The polymer or the polymer mixture includes polydimethylsiloxane, polytetrafluoroethylene, polyvinylpyrrolidone, or a combination thereof. The solution immersion method used to synthesize the medium requires only a single, simple step and affordable materials and, as a result, is easy to scale up.