Provided are methods for preparing hydrogen and solid carbon. Illustrative methods comprise providing a feedstock comprising gaseous hydrocarbons to a microwave-inert reaction vessel and/or a radio wave-inert reaction vessel. The reaction vessel has solid carbon, about 0% water and about 0% molecular oxygen inside the reaction vessel and the carbon inside the reaction vessel is operable to heat the feedstock comprising gaseous hydrocarbons. The carbon is then exposed to microwaves and/or radio waves until the solid carbon is at a temperature of at least 1200 Kelvin, thereby forming hydrogen and solid carbon. Once formed, the hydrogen and solid carbon are separated.

The present invention relates to a porous nano structure and a method of manufacturing same. The porous nano structure exhibits excellent mechanical strength and has a wide specific surface area and is therefore useful as an absorbent, a vibration absorber, a sound absorber, a shock absorber, a catalyst support, a membrane for separation, etc., and can be applied to various technical fields such as electronics, composite materials, sensors, catalysts, energy storage materials, and ultra-high capacity storage batteries. In particular, the porous nano structure exhibits excellent hydrogen storage capability and is thus very useful as a hydrogen storage material.

A method for conversion of carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide comprises: introducing a flow of a dehumidified gaseous source of carbon dioxide into a reaction vessel; and irradiating dried, solid carbonaceous material in the reaction vessel with microwave energy. Heating of the irradiated carbonaceous material drives an endothermic reaction of carbon dioxide and carbon that produces carbon monoxide. At least a portion of heat required to maintain a temperature within the reaction vessel is supplied by the microwave energy. Carbon monoxide thus produced is allowed to flow out of the reaction vessel.

A non-thermal plasma is generated to selectively convert a precursor to a product. More specifically, plasma forming material and a precursor material are provided to a reaction zone of a vessel. The reaction zone is exposed to microwave radiation, including exposing the plasma forming material and the precursor material to the microwave radiation. The exposure of the plasma forming material to the microwave radiation selectively converts the plasma forming material to a non-thermal plasma including formation of one or more streamers. The precursor material is mixed with the plasma forming material and the precursor material is exposed to the non-thermal plasma including exposing the precursor material to the one or more streamers. The exposure of the precursor material to the streamers and the microwave radiation selectively converts the precursor material to a product.

A method of treating particles by disaggregating, deagglomerating, exfoliating, cleaning, functionalising, doping, decorating and/or repairing said particles, in which the particles are subjected to plasma treatment in a treatment chamber containing a plurality of electrodes which project therein and wherein plasma is generated by said electrodes which are moved during the plasma treatment to agitate the particles.

Provided are methods for preparing hydrogen and solid carbon. Illustrative methods comprise providing a feedstock comprising gaseous hydrocarbons to a microwave-inert reaction vessel and/or a radio wave-inert reaction vessel. The reaction vessel has solid carbon, about 0% water and about 0% molecular oxygen inside the reaction vessel and the carbon inside the reaction vessel is operable to heat the feedstock comprising gaseous hydrocarbons. The carbon is then exposed to microwaves and/or radio waves until the solid carbon is at a temperature of at least 1200 Kelvin, thereby forming hydrogen and solid carbon. Once formed, the hydrogen and solid carbon are separated.

This invention relates to a method of increasing the size of particulates in a gas comprising particulates, e.g. a gas that is formed from the combustion of fuels. The method comprises mixing an ionised gas stream with the gas comprising particulates.

A method of treating particles by disaggregating, deagglomerating, exfoliating, cleaning, functionalizing, doping, decorating and/or repairing said particles, in which the particles are subjected to plasma treatment in a treatment chamber containing a plurality of electrodes which project therein and wherein plasma is generated by said electrodes which are moved during the plasma treatment to agitate the particles.

Apparatuses and methods are disclosed for applying radio frequency (RF) energy to an object in an energy application zone. At least one processor may be configured to cause RF energy to be applied at a plurality of electromagnetic field patterns to the object in the energy application zone. The processor may be further configured to determine an amount of power dissipated in the energy application zone, for each of the plurality of field patterns. The processor may also be configured to determine a spatial distribution of energy absorption characteristics across at least a portion of the energy application zone based on the amounts of power dissipated when the plurality of field patterns are applied to the energy application zone.

An instrument and method for accelerating the solid phase synthesis of peptides are disclosed. The method includes the steps of deprotecting a protected first amino acid linked to a solid phase resin by admixing the protected linked acid with a deprotecting solution in a microwave transparent vessel while irradiating the admixed acid and solution with microwaves, activating a second amino acid, coupling the second amino acid to the first acid while irradiating the composition in the same vessel with microwaves, and cleaving the linked peptide from the solid phase resin by admixing the linked peptide with a cleaving composition in the same vessel while irradiating the composition with microwaves.