In this work, nanoporous carbons (NPCs) were prepared by the self-assembly of polymeric carbon precursors and block copolymer template in the presence of tetraethyl orthosilicate and colloidal silica. The NPCs' pore structures and total pore volumes were analyzed by reference to N2/77 K adsorption isotherms. The porosity and elemental mercury adsorption of NPCs were increased by activation with carbon dioxide. It could be resulted that elemental mercury adsorption ability of NPCs depended on their specific surface area and micropore fraction.

People have been concerned about mercury emissions for decades because of the extreme toxicity, persistence, and bioaccumulation of methyl Hg transformed from emitted Hg. This paper presents an overview of research related to mercury control technology and identifies areas requiring additional research and development. It critically reviews measured mercury emissions progress in the development of promising control technologies. This review provides useful information to scientists and engineers in this field.

Public concern has recently increased over the potential risk of toxic elements emitted from anthropogenic sources. Among these, mercury has drawn special attention owing to its increasing level of bioaccumulation in the environment and in the food chain, with potential risks for human health. This paper presents an overview of research related to mercury control technology and identifies areas requiring additional research and development. It critically reviews measured mercury emissions progress in the development of promising control technologies, including catalytic oxidation, sorbent injection, photochemistry oxidation, and air pollution control devices.

Elemental mercury has a very high volatility allowing easy dissipation from water or soil into air. To better understand how the kinetics of diffusion of elemental mercury through a medium, which is soil in this study, a mercury diffusion column experiment was done. The correlation between temperature and equilibrium concentrations of mercury in standardized soil samples and a pure mercury standard were determined. Total mercury concentrations were analysed using CVAFS. The effect of time and soil depth to the kinetics of mercury diffusion were determined. Differences in mercury concentrations at different sampling probes were observed during the first few gas phase analyses. Equilibrium was reached through the column after 72 hours.

Removal of elemental mercury (Hg0) with the reactive species produced from dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) was studied. We investigated the effect of operating parameters such as the applied voltage, residence time, initial concentration and co-existence of other pollutants. The removal of Hg0 was significantly promoted by an increase in the applied voltage of the DBD reactor system. It is important to note that at the same input power, the removal efficiency of Hg0 was much higher than that of NO gas. These results imply that if the DBD system is used as a NOx treatment facility, it is capable of removing Hg0 simultaneously with NOx.