Antibiotic overuse and mass production have led to a global problem with the treatment of antibacterial infections. Thus, any possibility to limit the number of antibacterial drugs used will contribute to a decrease in the development of pathogenic bacterial resistance. In this study, the enhanced bacterial growth reduction of pharmaceutical activated carbon (PAC) material with adsorbed antimicrobial agents compared to the activity of pure antibacterial drugs was investigated. Sulfamethoxazole (SMZ) at a concentration of 1.1 mg/mL retained the growth of S. aureus and E. coli at 20.5% and 26.5%, respectively, whereas SMZ adsorbed on PAC increased the reduction of the tested bacteria in the range of 47–72%. The use of PAC with adsorbed gentamycin (G) over 24 h improved the effectiveness of E. coli growth reduction by 50% compared to the application of pure antibiotic (3.6 µg/mL). The increased reduction of S. aureus growth by 6% using G with PAC for a 24-h incubation time compared to the use of pure antibiotics at a concentration of 3.6 µg/mL was observed. The results provide proof-of-principle that the new approach of activated carbon with adsorbed antimicrobial agents could yield an attractive background with potential as a new starting material for S. aureus and E. coli pathogen elimination, e.g., in wound-healing treatment in the future.

Activated carbons from biomass material of giant knotweed Reynoutria sachalinensis (F. Schmidt ex Maxim.) Nakai were obtained. Use of this plant for manufacturing activated carbon has not been studied yet. Therefore, the first activated carbons of giant knotweed origin are described. Both physicochemical (by steam and CO2) and chemical (by KOH) activation methods were applied. Influences of temperature (500, 600, 700 and 800°C), burn-off [10, 25 and 50 wt. % (daf)] and KOH concentration on pores surface area and volume distribution of the obtained activated carbons were explored. Porosity of the elaborated sorbents was determined by benzene and carbon dioxide sorption measurements. Sorbents obtained by steam activation were micro- and mesoporous with surface area and volume of pores increasing with temperature and burn-off to V = 0.351 cm3 g-1 and S = 768 m2 g-1 at 800°C at 50% burn-off. Carbon dioxide activation resulted with notably microporous activated carbons with porous texture parameters also increasing with burn-off to V = 0.286 cm3 g-1 and S = 724 m2 g-1 at 50% burn-off. The highest BET surface area of 2541 m2 g-1 was achieved when chemical (KOH) activation was performed using KOH to char ratio 4:1.

The paper presents the base and conditions for the extraction of organic materials with solvents in the supercritical state with particular attention to use of CO2 as the extraction agent. The advantages and disadvantages of this process are described. The examples of extraction of organic materials using supercritical of CO2 are presented.

Nickel(II) complex with sarcosine [Ni(sar)₂(H₂O)₂] (1) has been obtained as a reaction product of a system: Ni(II)Cl₂–1-methylhydantoin. Basic hydrolysis of the organic substrate leads to in situ formation of sarcosine ligand, which coordinates to the metal ion. The isolated complex has been characterized by means of single crystal X-ray diffraction and spectroscopic studies (IR, Raman, and NIR–UV–Vis) supported with DFT calculations. Single crystal X-ray diffraction revealed that the nickel environment in [NiN₂O₄] chromophore exhibited the geometry of a tetragonally elongated octahedron. Hydrogen bonds create two chain patterns which propagate along the main crystallographic directions a and b. It leads to the formation of a 2D network. Electronic spectra analysis showed that the nickel surroundings can be described as pseudooctahedral in solution and tetragonal in the solid state. Based on the calculated 10Dq parameter (10,990 cm⁻¹), sarcosine ligand was located in the spectrochemical series close to ammonia. Comprehensive studies of the molecular structure and vibrational spectra of the title complex have been performed using UPBE0, unrestricted density functional method. The clear-cut assignment of the bands in FT-IR and Raman spectra of studied complex has been made on the basis of the calculated potential energy distribution. The Ni–L(sarcosine) stretching vibrations were assigned in Raman spectrum to the medium intensity band at 442 cm⁻¹.