The excitation wavelength dependence of the emission kinetics of several solutes is used to demonstrate the presence of dynamic heterogeneity in two representative room temperature ionic liquids, dimethyl-isopropyl-propyl-ammonium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide [N(ip311)(+)][Tf(2)N(-)] and N-propyl-N-methylpyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide [Pr(31)(+)][Tf(2)N(-)]. The solute kinetics examined here include rotation and solvation of coumarin 153, isomerization of two malononitriles, and intramolecular charge transfer in crystal violet lactone. The rates of most of these processes vary significantly with excitation wavelength, especially for excitation on the red edges of the solute absorption bands, indicating that energetically selected subpopulations relax at distinct rates. The results presented here suggest more generally that dynamical processes taking place on the subnanosecond time scale in typical ionic liquids near room temperature are likely to be heterogeneous in character.

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Calcium oxide has been identified to be one of the best candidates for CO 2 capture in zero-emission powergeneration systems. However, it suffers a well-known problem of loss-in-capacity (i.e., its capacity of CO 2 capture decreases after it undergoes cycles of carbonation/decarbonation). This problem is a potential obstacle to the adoption of the new technologies. This paper proposes a method of fabricating a CaO-based adsorbent without the problem of loss-in-capacity. An adsorbent was fabricated using the method and tested on a thermogravimetric analyzer. It was shown that the sorbent attained a utilization efficiency of more than 90% after 9 cycles of carbonation/decarbonation.

a b s t r a c tThe increasing and wide use of nanoparticles (NPs), including TiO 2 and Ag NPs, have raised concerns due to their potential toxicity and environmental impacts. Kaolin is a very common mineral in aquatic systems, and there is a very high probability that nanoparticles (NPs) will interact with these clay minerals. We studied the effect of kaolin particles on the aggregation of NPs under different conditions, including the role of pH, ionic strength (IS), and humic acid (HA). We show that kaolin reduces the energy barrier and the Critical Coagulation Concentration (CCC) at pH 4. At pH 8, even though the energy barrier of the system without kaolin increases, kaolin promotes NP aggregation via heteroaggregation. When IS is equal to or greater than the CCC, on the one hand HA promotes aggregation of TiO 2 NPs, but on the other hand HA decreases the rate of Ag NP aggregation because the existence of a surface coating may limit the adsorption of HA on these Ag NPs. In addition, the presence of HA increases the energy barrier and the CCC of the binary system (kaolin þ NPs). Thus, the complex interactions of clay, NPs, IS, pH, and HA concentration determine the colloidal stability of the NPs. We find that kaolin is a potential coagulant for removal of NPs that behave like Ag and TiO 2 .