A method is described to produce cellulose sheets and suspensions by fermenting biomass obtained from household and/or industrial waste. The inoculum in the fermentation includes cellulose producing bacteria and optionally yeast cells. The method has a high cellulose productivity. The resulting sheets or suspensions can be used to produce various further materials, such as disposable vessels, sachets, artificial leather. The sheet and suspensions can be used as additives in material production, such as paper making production. The method provides an alternative to make disposable items that are currently made of plastic, and textiles.

Composite materials for removing hydrophobic components from a fluid include a porous matrix polymer, carbon nanotubes grafted to surfaces of the porous matrix polymer, and polystyrene chains grafted to the carbon nanotubes. Examples of porous matrix polymer include polyurethanes, polyethylenes, and polypropylenes. Membranes of the composite material may be enclosed within a fluid-permeable pouch to form a fluid treatment apparatus, such that by contacting the apparatus with a fluid mixture containing water and a hydrophobic component, the hydrophobic component absorbs selectively into the membrane. The apparatus may be removed from the fluid mixture and reused after the hydrophobic component is expelled from the membrane. The composite material may be prepared by grafting functionalized carbon nanotubes to a porous matrix polymer to form a polymer-nanotube composite, then polymerizing styrene onto the carbon nanotubes of the polymer-nanotube composite.

A smart sand includes raw sand particles, synthetic SiO.sub.2 particles attached to the raw sand particles, a first material attached to a first set of the synthetic SiO.sub.2 particles, a second material attached to a second set of the synthetic SiO.sub.2 particles, and a third material attached to the first material. Each of the first to third materials is different from each other.

A polymer composition for use in the removal and recovery of oil slicks or spills floating on the surfaces of bodies or water or present on land, such as beaches comprising a foam of a blend of polyethylene and an ethylene-alkyl acrylate copolymer and a process for using such foams in the selective removal of oil from fresh water or salt water and the recovery of the absorbed oils from the foams is disclosed. The polymer composition is also for use in other applications in which absorption of liquids is desired.

A method and system for efficient oil spill cleanup are disclosed. Inserting magnetic filings in the oil magnetizes the spilled oil. An electromagnetic boom associated with an oil spill cleanup apparatus is used to create a magnetic field proximate to the electromagnetic boom. The magnetic field draws the magnetized oil toward the boom. The magnetic field is periodically switched on and off to create a pumping effect and draws the magnetized oil to a collection apparatus. The electromagnetic boom is directed through the effected environment using a thruster on the distal end of the boom.

Articles are provided for absorbing fluids. In embodiments, the articles of the present disclosure are modified to make them hydrophobic, thereby decreasing their affinity for water and similar liquids, while increasing their affinity for other hydrophobic materials, including oil. After use, the articles, in embodiments sponges, may have their absorbed materials removed therefrom, and the articles may then be re-used to absorb additional materials.

A floatable modular device for absorbing oil from a surface, includes a generally disk-shaped floatable cage tapering towards the periphery of the cage in a peripheral region thereof; and a water-repellent strip- or chip-shaped oil absorbent accommodated in the cage, wherein the cage further includes at least one connector, element configured for joining plural ones of the modular devices together, to form an articulate oil absorber in which the individual cages are oriented in parallel to one another. A method of manufacturing the device includes providing a first, grid-like sheet made of plastics, positioning a water-repellent strip- or chip-shaped oil absorbent on the first grid-like sheet, positioning a second sheet on the oil absorbent, and welding the first and second sheets together at their peripheries, with the oil absorbent in between, wherein peripheral regions of the first and second sheets are bent towards one another.

The group of inventions relates to the field of organic chemistry and can be used for cleaning water, industrial and domestic waste water or waste water sediment, and for the containment and recovery of petroleum and petroleum product spills in large bodies of water, rivers, lakes and seas. In the claimed group of inventions, aqueous solutions of polysaccharide microgels, having a molecular mass of 20000-200000 daltons and a particle size of 50-600 nm, are used as a substance for cleaning water of petroleum and petroleum products. Moreover, low concentrations of polysaccharide microgels in water, ranging from 0.1 to 20 g/l, are used. Said solutions are used as a surface modifier for a filter used in separating water-oil emulsions, as a sorbent for the containment and recovery of oil spills in an aqueous medium, and also as a coagulant for the cleaning of water polluted by petroleum and petroleum products. The technical result is in making it possible to recover a commercial product, recovered during the process of cleaning water of petroleum or petroleum products, and to recover the starting substance for the reuse thereof, while simultaneously simplifying the slurry utilization process.

Methods and kits for the removal of organic contaminants from contaminated samples are generally provided. In some embodiments, the methods and kits comprise a surfactant and adsorbent particles.

The invention relates to a method for aggregating and separating an organic material mixture which is provided in a dissolved form in an aqueous emulsion. The method is characterized by the following steps: a) providing an aqueous emulsion with organic compounds which are provided in the emulsion in a dissolved form, said organic compounds being carboxylic acids, phospholipids, glycolipids, glyceroglycolipids, phenols, sterols, chlorophyll, and/or sinapines, b) mixing the emulsion from step a) with an aqueous solution containing copper(II) ions and/or calcium ions until an aggregate formation is achieved, and c) separating the aggregates from step b) by means of a sedimentation, filtration, or centrifugation process after achieving an aggregated phase of the organic compounds from step b).