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 highly adsorptive structure includes: a substrate; and a carbon aerogel adhered to the substrate, wherein the carbon aerogel is characterized by having physical characteristics of in-situ formation on the substrate, and wherein the carbon aerogel is configured to selectively adsorb and desorb one or more refrigerants selected from the group consisting of: acid halides, alcohols, aldehydes, amines, chlorofluorocarbons, esters, ethers, fluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, halocarbons, halogenated aldehydes, halogenated amines, halogenated hydrocarbons, halomethanes, hydrocarbons, hydrochlorofluorocarbons, hydrofluoroethers, hydrofluoroolefins, inorganic gases, ketones, nitrocarbon compounds, noble gases, organochlorine compounds, organofluorine compounds, organophosphorous compounds, organosilicon compounds, oxide gases, refrigerant blends and thiols.

A carbon film coating structure and a method for coating that structure onto a work are provided, in which a carbon material such as a carbon nanotube is applied to a work for coating thereof with high density and high integration so that the coating has an outstanding electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity, heat resistance, high strength and flexibility owing to the characteristics of carbon, and in which a carbon such as CNT is applied to the work for coating thereof easily and inexpensively, and with high density and high integration. A carbon material is coated or impregnated on a surface layer of a work. The work can deposit a suboxide or oxide containing metal ions. A porous primary film is formed on the surface layer of the work. The carbon film is coated or impregnated on an irregular part of the surface layer of the primary film.

A graphene coated crushed glass particle adsorbent is provided for the removal of heavy metals and other contaminants in from solutions such as wastewaters, contaminated surface water and groundwater. The adsorbent comprises crushed (e.g. recycled) glass coated with graphene nano-sheets using a staged thermal binding process and the silicas in the glass as a catalyst. The adsorbent may be configured for use in both in-situ and ex-situ treatment systems and is capable of removing heavy metals and other inorganic and organic contaminants. The strong adsorptive bond between contaminants and the graphene coating on crushed glass particles can also lead to alternative applications of the end of life adsorbent, such as base material in road and pavement (e.g. cement-like) construction materials.

The present document describes a carbon allotrope-silica composite material comprising a silica microcapsule comprising a silica shell having a thickness of from about 50 nm to about 500 μm, and a plurality of pores, said shell forming a capsule having a diameter from about 0.2 μm to about 1500 μm, and having a density of about 0.001 g/cm3 to about 1.0 g/cm3, wherein said shell comprises from about 0% to about 70% Q3 configuration, and from about 30% to about 100% Q4 configuration, or wherein said shell comprises from about 0% to about 60% T2 configuration and from about 40% to about 100% T3 configuration, or wherein said shell comprises a combination of T and Q configurations thereof, and wherein an exterior surface of said capsule is covered by a functional group; a carbon allotrope attached to said silica microcapsule. Also described is a carbon allotrope-silica composite material comprising a carbon allotrope attached to a silica moiety comprising a silica nanoparticle having a diameter from about 5 nm to about 1000 nm, wherein an exterior surface of said silica nanoparticle is covered by a functional group.

A graphene adsorbing material, a preparation method therefor and application thereof, and a cigarette filter tip and a cigarette are provided. The graphene adsorbing material comprises a fiber carrier, graphene and doped elements wherein the graphene and the doped elements are loaded on the fiber carrier and the doped elements comprise at least one of Al, Si and Fe. The graphene adsorbing material is obtained by contacting the fibers with the graphene material to load the graphene material on the fibers. By introducing the graphene and the doped elements in the fiber carrier, harmful substances with a type of fused aromatic hydrocarbons such as benzopyrene in smoke can be specifically adsorbed, filtered and removed; while nicotine and the other harmless substances are retained, and thus the smoking taste of a cigarette is not affected. The cigarette filter tip can effectively adsorb cancerogenic substances with a type of fused aromatic hydrocarbons such as benzopyrene in smoke to reduce harm of smoking; meanwhile, the pleasure of smoking and the mellow taste of the smoke are not affected. Besides, the graphene adsorbing material can also prevent the phenomenon that a cigarette holder gets mildewed due to humid environment and the other factors.

A filter for a water treatment apparatus includes: a current collector; activated carbon electrodes including an active carbon coating layer that is disposed on one or both sides of the current collector and that has an uneven pattern; spacers disposed between the activated carbon electrodes; electrode plates connected to side ends of the activated carbon electrodes; and a power supply configured to supply currents through the electrode plates to the activated carbon electrodes such that neighboring activated carbon electrodes alternatively form an anode and a cathode. The filter can decrease water hardness and has a high ion removing performance because the uneven pattern increases the specific surface area and water permeability, and an ion exchange membrane is not used and the current collector has a minimized volume, leading to the minimal thickness of the electrode.

The invention relates to a heat exchanger having at least one sorption duct in which is arranged a sorption medium and through which a fluid can be made to flow, characterized in that the heat exchanger also contains at least one catalyst with which a fuel can be converted exothermically such that at least some of the resulting heat can be conveyed to the sorption medium. The invention also relates to a method for heating and/or conditioning a gas stream, having at least the following steps: supplying a gas stream, containing multiple different components, into a sorption duct in which is arranged a sorption medium, such that at least one component is bound in the sorption medium, and supplying and exothermically converting at least one fuel under the action of a catalyst, such that at least one component of the gas stream is expelled from the sorption medium.

A method of removing an organic pollutant from water by contacting the water with a ball milled and sonicated oil fly ash powder to adsorb the organic pollutant onto the ball milled and sonicated oil fly ash powder. A method of producing a ball milled and sonicated oil fly ash powder involving ball milling oil fly ash to provide ball milled oil fly ash particles with an average particle size of less than 1 μm and sonicating the ball milled oil fly ash particles in an aqueous medium to form the ball milled and sonicated oil fly ash powder. A method of improving recovery of valuable metals/elements from oil fly ash.

Activated carbon, e.g., from waste tires, modified by bimetallic Fe and Ce nanoparticles can provide high surface area and active sites for enhanced dye adsorption. Such nanocomposites can offer magnetic removal from aqueous solutions containing, e.g., Methylene Blue or Rhodamine B. Adsorption equilibrium data fit well to the Langmuir isotherm model, with an adsorption capacity was 324.6 mg/g. Rhodamine B adsorption by such activated carbon-Fe—Ce magnetic adsorbents has an endothermic character and pseudo-second-order kinetics. In ethanol solution, rhodamine B was desorbed at high efficiency and such materials, which could be recycled up to 5 cycles. Such magnetic nanocomposites are adsorbents for treating dyes such as rhodamine B in wastewater, even in large scale adsorption systems. Polyamides can be grafted to such nanocomposites.