An improved method of deprotection in solid phase peptide synthesis is disclosed. In particular the deprotecting composition is added in high concentration and small volume to the mixture of the coupling solution, the growing peptide chain, and any excess activated acid from the preceding coupling cycle, and without any draining step between the coupling step of the previous cycle and the addition of the deprotection composition for the successive cycle. Thereafter, the ambient pressure in the vessel is reduced with a vacuum pull to remove the deprotecting composition without any draining step and without otherwise adversely affecting the remaining materials in the vessel or causing problems in subsequent steps in the SPPS cycle.

An arrangement for heating a sample by microwave radiation is provided. The arrangement includes a container having an inner space for accommodating the sample and having a bottom container wall, a wave guide arranged to guide a microwave having an electric field direction, a waveguide adapter being adapted to couple the microwave from the wave guide into the inner space of the container via the bottom container wall being oriented to be different from perpendicular to, in particular substantially parallel to, the electric field vector direction.

Microwave chemical processing system having a microwave plasma reactor, and a multi-stage gas-solid separation system are disclosed. The microwave energy source has a waveguide, a reaction zone, and an inlet configured to receive the input material, and the input material is converted into separated components. The separated components include hydrogen gas and carbon particles. The multi-stage gas-solid separation system has a first cyclone separator to filter the carbon particles from the separated components, and a back-pulse filter system coupled to the output of the first cycle separator to filter the carbon particles from the output from the first cyclone separator.

A microwave reduction furnace including a reaction furnace provided with a refractory chamber of silica or silicon carbide for storing a material therein, a supply section for supplying the material into the refractory chamber, the material being a mixture of a silica powder and a graphite powder or a mixture of a silica powder, a silicon carbide powder and a graphite powder, a discharge section for discharging molten silicon, obtained through reduction, out of the chamber, and a microwave oscillator for outputting microwave toward the refractory chamber in the reaction furnace with a degree of directionality by virtue of a helical antenna or a waveguide.

This disclosure provides a reactor system that includes a microwave energy source that generates a microwave energy, a field-enhancing waveguide (FEWG) coupled to the microwave source. The FEWG includes a field-enhancing zone having a cross-sectional area that decreases along a length of the FEWG. The field-enhancing zone includes a supply gas inlet that receives a supply gas, a reaction zone that generates a plasma in response to excitation of the supply gas by the microwave energy, a process inlet that injects a raw material into the reaction zone, and a constricted region that retains a portion of the plasma and combines the plasma and the raw material in response to the microwave energy within the reaction zone. An expansion chamber is in fluid communication with the constricted region facilitates expansion of the plasma. An outlet outputs a plurality of carbon-inclusive particles derived from the expanded plasma and the raw material.

A method for producing silicon using microwave and a microwave reduction furnace for use therewith are disclosed, with which it is possible to quickly reduce silica to quickly produce silicon. A material of a mixture of a silica powder and a graphite powder of a mixture of a silica powder, a silicon carbide powder and a graphite powder is set in a refractory chamber. Then, the material set in the chamber is irradiated with microwave. The graphite powder absorbs a microwave energy to increase the temperature, after which silica and graphite react with each other to further increase the temperature while producing silicon carbide, and the heated silica and silicon carbide react with each other. SiO produced through this reaction and silicon carbide are allowed to react with each other, thereby producing high-purity silicon.