Hypercrosslinked polymers (HCPs) synthesized by copolymerisation of pdichloroxylene (p-DCX) and 4-4′-bis (chloromethyl)-1-1′-biphenyl (BCMBP) constitute a family of low density porous materials with excellent textural development. Such polymers show microporosity and mesoporosity and exhibit Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface areas of up to 1970 m 2 g-1. The CO 2 adsorption capacity of these polymers was evaluated using a thermogravimetric analyser (atmospheric pressure tests) and a high-pressure magnetic suspension balance (high pressure tests). CO 2 capture capacities were related to the textural properties of the HCPs. The performance of these materials to adsorb CO 2 at atmospheric pressure was characterized by maximum CO 2 uptakes of 1.7 mmol g-1 (7.4 wt %) at 298 K. At higher pressures (30 bar), the polymers show CO 2 uptakes of up to 13.4 mmol g-1 (59 wt %), superior to zeolite-based materials (zeolite 13X, zeolite NaX) and commercial activated carbons (BPL, Norit R). In addition, these polymers showed low isosteric heats of CO 2 adsorption and good selectivity towards CO 2. Hypercrosslinked polymers have potential to be applied as CO 2 adsorbents in pre-combustion capture processes where high CO 2 partial pressures are involved.

Degradation of technical nonylphenol (t-NP), known as an endocrine-disrupting compound mixture, was assessed, using the mitosporic fungal strain UHH 1-6-18-4 isolated from nonylphenol-contaminated river water, and a strain of the aquatic hyphomycete Clavariopsis aquatica. GC-MS analysis could resolve 12 peaks attributable to nonyl chain-branched t-NP isomers. All were degraded, to individual extents. Analysis of degradation metabolites suggested intracellular hydroxylation of the nonyl moieties of individual t-NP isomers. Further metabolites also indicated shortening of branched nonyl chains, and 4-hydroxybenzoic acid was identified as a t-NP breakdown product in UHH 1-6-18-4. The t-NP degradation efficiency was higher in UHH 1-6-18-4 than in C. aquatica, and a lower specificity in degradation of individual t-NP constituents in UHH 1-6-18-4 than in C. aquatica was observed. Strain UHH 1-6-18-4 concomitantly produced extracellular laccase under degradation conditions. A mixture of CuSO 4 and vanillic acid considerably enhanced laccase production in both fungi. Laccase preparations derived from UHH 1-6-18-4 and C. aquatica cultures also converted t-NP. Laccase-catalysed transformation of t-NP led to the formation of products with higher molecular masses than that of the parent compound. These results emphasize a role of fungi occurring in aquatic ecosystems in degradation of water contaminants with endocrine activity, which has not previously been considered. Furthermore, the results are in support of two different mechanisms employed by fungi isolated from aquatic environments to initiate t-NP degradation: hydroxylation of individual t-NP isomers at their branched nonyl chains and further breakdown of the alkyl chains of certain isomers; and attack of t-NP by extracellular laccase, the latter leading to oxidative coupling of primary radical products to compounds with higher molecular masses. INTRODUCTIONNonylphenols have increasingly gained attention because of their potential to mimic the action of natural hormones in vertebrates (Ying et al., 2002). They result from incomplete biodegradation of nonylphenol polyethoxylates (NPEOs), which have been widely used as non-ionic surfactants in industrial processes and households (Braun et al., 2003;Ying et al., 2002). Both nonylphenols and NPEOs are discharged into the environment, mainly due to incomplete removal in wastewater treatment facilities (Ying et al., 2002). Nonylphenols are more resistant to biodegradation than their parent compounds and hence are found worldwide in wastewater treatment plant effluents and rivers in concentrations of up to the mg l 21 range (Heemken et al., 2001;Kolpin et al., 2002;Stachel et al., 2003;Ying et al., 2002). Due to their hydrophobicity, they tend to adsorb onto surface water particles and sediments and accumulate in aquatic organisms (Heemken et al., 2001;Ying et al., 2002). Consequently, nonylphenols represent a serious environmental and human health risk. The assessment of biodegradative processes affecting the environmental...

In this work a series of carbon adsorbents were prepared from a low-cost biomass residue, olive stones. Two different approaches were studied: activation with CO 2 and heat treatment with gaseous ammonia. The results showed that both methods are suitable for the production of adsorbents with a high CO 2 adsorption capacity, and their potential application in VSA or TSA systems for postcombustion CO 2 capture. It was found that the presence of nitrogen functionalities enhances CO 2 adsorption capacity, especially at low partial pressures.

This study shows that standard techniques used for carbons characterization, such as physical adsorption of CO 2 at 273 K and N 2 at 77 K, can be used to assess, with a good accuracy, the maximum capacity of carbons to capture CO 2 under post-and pre-combustion conditions. The analysis of the corresponding adsorption isotherms, within the general theoretical framework of Dubinin's theory, leads to the values of the micropore volume, W o , and the characteristic energy, E o , of the carbons, which provide direct information on the equilibrium CO 2 uptake of the carbons at different pressures and temperatures.Although in special cases slightly higher values can be obtained, an overall assessment of the textural parameters for a large variety of activated carbons, indicates that a CO 2 uptake upper-bound around 10-11 wt % seems to be realistic for standard activated carbons under post-combustion conditions. In the case of pre-combustion conditions, this limit would not exceed 60-70 wt %.

Different carbon materials were tested as precursors for the production of CO 2 adsorbents. The chemical modification of the surface of the prepared adsorbents was studied by means of three different approaches: impregnation with amines, electrophilic aromatic substitution and heat treatment in the presence of ammonia. The samples were chemically characterized and the porous texture was evaluated from the N 2 adsorption isotherms at -196 ºC. The CO 2 adsorption capacities of the adsorbents at 25 and 100 ºC were evaluated in a thermogravimetric analyzer. In general, the incorporation of basic nitrogen functionalities enhanced the CO 2 capture capacities of the modified carbons but this increase depended on the textural properties of the support and the surface 2 modification methodology. CO 2 adsorption capacities of up to 111 mg CO 2 / g at room temperature were attained. All the tested samples were completely regenerated when subjected to heat treatment at 100 ºC under inert atmosphere. INTRODUCTIONThe increasing demand for energy is causing a rise in the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and growing environmental concern over global warming and climate change. CO 2 is by far the most important GHG. As a result of anthropogenic CO 2 emissions, atmospheric concentrations have risen by 35 % from the pre-industrial level of 280 ppm to 387 ppm in 2008, primarily as a consequence of the use of fossil fuel.Because of the risk and cost of using non-fossil alternatives such as nuclear, biomass, solar energy, etc., at their current stage of development, these energy sources would be unable to satisfy the need for energy that at present is supplied by fossil fuels. Hydrogen could be used as a substitute for fossil fuel but currently around 96 % of the hydrogen produced commercially originates from fossil fuels. No significant change to the production of hydrogen from renewable power sources is likely to take place in the near term. In this scenario, CO 2 capture and storage (CCS) technologies are crucial to achieving a significant reduction in atmospheric CO 2 concentrations. According to the IPCC Special Report on CO 2 Capture and Storage, CCS will contribute to 15-55 % of the cumulative mitigation effort worldwide until 2100 (IPCC 2005). CO 2 emissions in power generation can be reduced by three different routes that are at different stages of development: post-combustion, pre-combustion and oxy-fuel combustion. Among the technologies considered for post and pre-combustion capture, absorption, adsorption, membrane separation and cryogenic distillation are the most promising (IPCC 2005). 3 Amine scrubbing is currently the preferred technology due to its higher state of development. The main drawback of absorption is the energy penalty due to the high regeneration costs. Adsorption, on the other hand, entails lower energy requirements and is commercially used in many industrial applications. The development of a new generation of adsorbents that adsorb CO 2 efficiently, will undoubtedly enhance the competitiveness o...