A carbon-based porous material microscopically exhibiting a three-dimension 1 cross-linked net-like hierarchical pore structure, a specific surface area of 5002,500 m.sup.2/g and a water contact angle greater than 90. The surface of the carbon-based porous material has a through hierarchical pore structure with mesopores nested in macropores and micropores nested in mesopores, the content of mesopores is high, and there are more adsorption activity sites exposed on the surface of the material, so that the diffusion path for organic gas molecules in the adsorption process is shortened. At the same time, the absorption and desorption rates may also be accelerated and the desorption temperature may be lowered. Furthermore, benefits result for solving the desorption and recovery problems of organic gas molecules. Moreover, the defects of ordinary porous carbon materials being easily hygroscopic, having a weakened capacity to adsorb target gas molecules in a humid environment, etc. are further effectively solved.

A toilet apparatus has a waste material receiving bowl with an opening to receive an absorbent media and indicator and a sensor to detect a presence of the indicator in the material receiving bowl when the indicator is present in the material receiving bowl and transmit a signal indicating the indicator is present in the material receiving bowl. A control circuit receives the signal from the sensor, processes the signal to determine the indicator is present in the material receiving bowl, and causes one or more actions to be taken by the toilet apparatus based on determining the indicator is present in the material receiving bowl.

The present invention relates to a carbon sorbent the can selectively remove platinum-group metals and other heavy metals such as tin without co-removing organic synthesis products including pharmaceutical intermediates and finished Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs). The carbon sorbents of the present invention are made from low-cost, high purity starting materials and the resulting carbon sorbents are also very pure. The carbon sorbents possess a combination of certain nitrogen and phosphorous groups combined with mesoporosity (2 to 50 nm diameter pores) that proves the high metal adsorption.

A chromogenic absorbent material for an animal litter includes an oxidizing agent responsive to peroxidatic/pseudoperoxidatic activity in an animal excretion or a first catalytic compound generating the oxidizing agent in situ. The material also includes a chromogenic indicator being chromogenically responsive to the oxidizing activity of the oxidizing agent, and an absorptive material which is porous, for absorbing the animal excretion. The absorptive material includes a water-absorbing polysaccharide providing absorptive properties to the chromogenic absorbent material; and may also include a second polysaccharide and a superabsorbent polymer. The material may be obtained in the form of particles having a low density and a high porosity, and is usable in conjunction with an animal litter for detecting various diseases in animals.

A method for solid-phase extraction is disclosed. The method includes fabricating a solid-phase extraction medium by incorporating a plurality of modified mesoporous silica particles within pores of a cotton fabric matrix, putting the solid-phase extraction medium in contact with a fluid containing metal ions including one of immersing the solid-phase extraction medium in the fluid containing metal ions or passing the fluid containing metal ions through the solid-phase extraction medium by continuously circulating the fluid through the solid-phase extraction medium, and extracting the metal ions from the fluid by adsorbing the metal ions onto the solid-phase extraction medium responsive to a contact between the solid-phase extraction medium and the fluid containing metal ions.

There is provided a cellulose derivative that has a high amount of a chelate adsorption group introduced, has high hydrophilicity, and is capable of efficiently recovering boron.

The cellulose derivative of the present disclosure has a repeating unit represented by the following formula (1-1). In the following formula (I-1), R.sup.a is the same as or different from each other, and is a hydroxyl group or a group represented by the following formula (a). In the following formula (a), R.sup.1 represents a hydrogen atom or a methyl group. R.sup.2 represents a hydrogen atom or a hydrocarbon group optionally having a hydroxyl group. R.sup.3 represents a hydrogen atom or a hydrocarbon group. Note that at least one of all R.sup.3 contained in the cellulose derivative is the group represented by the following formula (a).

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[Object] To provide an adsorbent, an adsorbent sheet, and a carbon/polymer composite for adsorbing a virus having further improved virus adsorption capability. [Solving Means] An adsorbent for adsorbing a virus according to the present invention has a specific surface area value as measured by the nitrogen BET method of 10 m.sup.2/g or more and a pore volume as measured by the BJH method of 0.1 cm.sup.3/g or more. An adsorbent sheet for adsorbing a virus according to the present invention includes a porous carbonaceous material having a specific surface area value as measured by the nitrogen BET method of 10 m.sup.2/g or more and a pore volume as measured by the BJH method of 0.1 cm.sup.3/g or more. A carbon/polymer composite for adsorbing a virus according to the present invention includes a porous carbonaceous material having a specific surface area value as measured by the nitrogen BET method of 10 m.sup.2/g or more and a pore volume as measured by the BJH method of 0.1 cm.sup.3/g or more; and a binder.

The present invention relates to Cellulose and/or Lignin based materials used as catalyst and/or sorbent support, carrier and/or binder in combination with an inorganic binder, leading to strong but flexible structures such as porous monoliths, wire mesh or shaped particles (extrudates, beads, pellets, microspheres) which can accommodate variations in catalyst and/or sorbent loadings as well as temperature and pressure fluctuations and humidity swings, this without loss of sorption capacity and mechanical integrity to prevent attrition, fines, losses etc. These sorbent/catalyst can be produced from waste biomass and can be recycled and reused, dissolved and re-precipitated making use of solvents like ZnCI2.

A method of making heteroatom-doped activated carbon is described in this application. Specifically, it describes a process that utilizes liquid furfuryl-functional-group compounds as starting materials, which are then used to dissolve the heteroatom containing source compounds, before being polymerized into solids using catalysts. The polymerized solids are then carbonized and activated to make the heteroatom-doped activated carbon. Electric double-layer capacitors (EDLC) were fabricated with activated carbons doped with boron and nitrogen, and tested for performance. Also, the boron and nitrogen content in the activated carbons was confirmed by chemical analysis.

The present invention concerns a process for removing metal ions from waste water, which process comprises providing plant-derived anionic nanofibrillar cellulose, carrying out a purification treatment comprising sorption of positively charged metal ions contained in the waste water to said nanofibrillar cellulose, separating used plant-derived anionic nanofibrillar cellulose from the waste water, and recovering treated waste water. The invention also concerns use of plant-derived anionic nanofibrillar cellulose for removing metal ions from waste water.