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Activated carbon (AC) materials are porous structures generated by activation of either pyrolyzed plant or coke materials through physical or chemical means. While being widely used in industry for water, air, and product purification, ACs also may be suitable for the removal of pollutants from flue gas or sulfur compounds from natural gas fuels before combustion, provided the processes/materials are economic. ACs derived from petroleum coke (petcoke) that is often stranded and considered a low-quality byproduct are relatively inexpensive. To date, the pure component adsorption and selectivities for AC from petcoke have not been reported and compared to other reported ACs for practical application with flue gas, sour gas, or acid gas purification. Here we show that an AC from petcoke displays both high-selectivity and capacity toward SO2and H2S. Single component volumetric adsorption experiments show adsorption as high as 554 mg g–1for SO2at p= 0.56 bar and 256 mg g–1for H2S at p= 1 bar (T= 25 °C). This SO2uptake is 66% higher than the previous highest SO2uptake on an AC and 39 times as selective toward SO2versus N2. These results suggest that AC from petcoke is an excellent material for recovering sulfur compounds from industrial flue gas or raw fuel, with the benefit of making use of a petroleum solid waste.

Cyperus articulatus(CA) rhizomes have demonstrated different properties on nervous system. However, the leaves still have not studied to treat epilepsy. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of CA ethanolic extract on pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) induced seizures in mice as well as measuring its antioxidant activity in vivoand in vitro. Mice were divided into five groups: (1) control (PTZ 80 mg/kg; i.p.), (2) PTZ-Diazepam (1 mg/kg; i.p.), (3–5) PTZ-CA 50, PTZ-CA 150 and PTZ-CA 300 (50, 150 and 300 mg/kg of CA extract, 30 min prior to each PTZ injection). The PTZ-CA 150 group showed lower seizure scores (P < 0.01), latency (P < 0.01), frequency (P < 0.01) and duration (P < 0.01) than control group. The antioxidant activity of CA extract scavenged DPPH radical showed IC 50 = 16.9 ± 0.1 μg/mL and TEAC = 2.28 ± 0.08, mmol trolox/g of extract, the content of gamma amino butyric acid (GABA) and malondialdehyde (MDA) were significantly high (P < 0.01) at dose of 150 mg/kg (82 ± 1.2 ng/g tissue; 1.0 ± 2.2 mol/g tissue, respectively). The present research demonstrated that CA extract possesses a potential effect to prevent PTZ induced seizures, antioxidant activity in addition to increase GABA levels.

Different CuO nanoparticles were synthesized and tested in CuO:TiO2physical mixtures for hydrogen production through glycerol photoreforming. CuO alone was inactive whereas its presence in CuO:TiO2mixtures significantly improved the photoactivity of TiO2, with smaller CuO nanoparticles leading to higher hydrogen productions. Results obtained through combination of EPR and CV studies suggested the existence of a Cu(II)-Cu0catalytic cycle. Thus, electrons promoted to the conduction band of titania could be used for CuO reduction to Cu which in turn would enable hydrogen production regenerating Cu2+for a new catalytic cycle. All in all, a hydrogen production of 88mmol·g-1was obtained after 5h on a CuO:TiO2(10% w/w) physical mixture which is comparable to that achieved in a previous study under identical reaction conditions on 1.5%Pt/TiO2.