Methods and nanocomposites for the adsorptive removal of aromatic hydrocarbons such as benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene and xylene from contaminated water sources and systems are provided. The nanocomposites contain carbon nanotubes and metal oxide nanoparticles such as Al.sub.2O.sub.3, Fe.sub.2O.sub.3 and ZnO impregnated on a surface and/or in pore spaces of the carbon nanotubes. Methods of preparing and characterizing the nanocomposite adsorbents are also provided.

Superficially porous particles are disclosed, each including a solid core and a layered porous shell. The layered porous shell includes a porous inner layer and at least one porous outer layer, a shell skeleton thickness greater than 1 nm, and constitutes from 10 vol % to 90 vol % of the plurality of superficially porous particles. The porous inner layer includes an inner layer thickness of less than 300 nm. The at least one porous outer layer includes a cumulative outer layer thickness ranging from 1 to 100 times the inner layer thickness, a predominately radial pore orientation, and an outer layer pore structure which is more organized than the inner layer pore structure. A layer-by-layer process for forming a plurality of superficially porous particles with layered structure is disclosed. A post-modification process for preparing a plurality of chromatographically enhanced superficially porous properties is also disclosed.

The present disclosure provides a multilayer article. The multilayer article includes a) a microfiltration membrane substrate; b) a first layer directly attached to the first major surface of the microfiltration membrane substrate; and c) a second layer directly attached to the first layer. The first layer includes a first polymeric binder and acid-sintered interconnected first silica nanoparticles arranged to form a continuous three-dimensional porous network. The second layer includes acid-sintered interconnected second silica nanoparticles arranged to form a continuous three-dimensional porous network. The present disclosure also provides a method for forming a multilayer article. The method includes (a) saturating a microfiltration membrane substrate with a liquid; (b) applying a first aqueous coating formulation to at least a portion of a first major surface of the microfiltration membrane substrate to form a coated substrate; (c) sintering the coated substrate, thereby forming a first layer; (d) applying a second aqueous coating formulation to the first major surface of the first layer to form a twice-coated substrate; and (e) sintering the twice-coated substrate.

An improved device for solid phase microextraction, the device including a plastic substrate, a pre-coating layer on the plastic substrate, and an SPME coating on the precoating layer. SPME coatings are typically incompatible with plastic substrates due to differences between the surface energies of the substrate and the coating, leading to uneven coating and poor adhesion. The addition of the precoating layer provides increased evenness and stronger adhesion of the SPME coating to the plastic substrate. Also provided are method of coating an SPME coating on a plastic substrate, the method including the step of precoating the plastic substrate to provide a precoated substrate and then coating the precoated substrate with an SPME coating, wherein precoating provides improved coating evenness and adhesion of the SPME coating to the plastic substrate.

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 water filtration membrane is provided, capable of removing heavy metal ions, filtering out particulates, filtering out bacteria, as well as removing herbicides and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from water. The membrane is composed of a mat of randomly oriented nanoparticle-coated nanofibers. The nanofibers are covalently bonded to a plurality of substantially uniformly-distributed ceramic nanoparticles embedded in or adhered on the surface of the polymer nanofibers through reactive functional groups. The ceramic nanoparticles have a pattern of deep grooves formed on the nanoparticle surfaces. The bonding of the nanoparticles to the nanofibers is sufficient to retain the nanoparticles on the nanofiber surfaces when water flows through the water filtration membrane. The diameter of the nanofibers is 50-200 nm. The size of the nanoparticles is <40 nm, with a zeta potential of 40 to 45 mV in a dispersion medium. The nanoparticle deep grooves have an average size of approximately 1.2 nm or less.

Hybrid sorbent on the base of anion-exchange polymeric matrix with HFO for selective sorption of arsenic characterized in that, HFO exists in matrix as particles, which at most are amorphous ferrihydrite, fraction of which is not less than 80%, preferably more than 90% from total mass of HFO.

The object of the invention and the technical result achieved with the use of the invention is to develop new hybrid sorbent with HFO with increased sorption kinetics of two arsenic forms As(III) and As(V) simultaneously.

A filter for producing a water composition containing silicic acid and hydrogen gas includes a carrier material and a silicon material supported on the carrier material. The filter has a diameter ranging from 50 m to 10 mm. A filter assembly, a filter device, and a water purification system containing the filter are also provided.

An air filter including a filter support that supports metal-containing sorbent particles, the sorbent particles comprising a precursor that is a porous siliceous material that has been treated with a surface treatment agent, and a divalent metal incorporated into the siliceous precursor material.

A product for adsorbing one or more PFAS from a liquid is disclosed. The product may comprise attapulgite that has been surface functionalized with (a) a quaternary amine surface coating solution that comprises a mono-quaternary amine compound or a di-quaternary amine compound and (b) a mercapto surface coating solution that comprises a surface coating agent that includes one or more mercapto groups that chemically bond to the attapulgite surface. When the quaternary amine surface coating solution includes the mono-quaternary amine compound, the product is free of di-quaternary amines. When the quaternary amine surface coating solution includes the di-quaternary amine compound, the product is free of mono-quaternary amines. Also disclosed is a method of producing the product and a method of adsorbing a PFAS in a liquid using the product.