The potentialities in the use of bio-chars prepared by steam assisted slow pyrolysis as adsorbents of gases of strategic interest (ca. N2, CO2, CH4) and their mixtures were explored. The bio-chars prepared from Populus nigra wood and cellulose fibers exhibited a narrow microporosity with average pore sizes ranging between 0.55 and 0.6 nm. The micropore volume increased with the pyrolysis temperature, allowing CO2 and CH4 uptakes at room temperature between 1.5-2.5 mmol/g and 0.1-0.5 mmol/g, respectively. These values are in line with those from the literature on biomass derived carbon-based materials exhibiting much higher porous features than those herein reported. As for the separation of CO2/N2 and CO2/CH4 gas mixtures, data showed that the prepared bio-chars exhibited good selectivities for CO2 over both N2 and CH4: between ca. 34 and 119 for a CO2/N2 mixture in typical post-combustion conditions (15/85, v/v) and between 14 and 34 for a CO2/CH4 mixture typical of natural gas upgrading (30/70, v/v).

Electrochemical (bio)sensors are considered clean and powerful analytical tools capable of converting an electrochemical reaction between analytes and electrodes into a quantitative signal.

The interest in the use of nanoporous carbon materials in applications related to energy conversion and storage, either as catalysts or additives, has grown over recent decades in various disciplines. Since the early studies reporting the benefits of the use of nanoporous carbons as inert supports of semiconductors and as electron acceptors that enhance the splitting of the photogenerated excitons, many researchers have investigated the key role of carbon matrices coupled to all types of photoactive materials. More recently, our group has demonstrated the ability of semiconductor-free nanoporous carbons to convert the absorbed photons into chemical reactions (i.e. oxidation of pollutants, water splitting, reduction of surface groups) opening new opportunities beyond conventional applications in light energy conversion. The aim of this paper is to review the recent progress on the application of nanoporous carbons in photochemistry using varied illumination conditions (UV, simulated solar light) and covering their role as additives to semiconductors as well as their use as photocatalysts in various fields, describing the photochemical quantum yield of nanoporous carbons for different reactions, and discussing the mechanisms postulated for the carbon/light interactions in confined pore spaces.

Activated carbons with different textural and chemical surface characteristics were synthesized from waste biomass and low rank coals, and furthermore used as a host matrix for cobalt species, varying the preparation and modification methods. The obtained activated carbons and modified samples were characterized by complex of various physicochemical methods, such as: low temperature physisorption of nitrogen, XRD, EPR, XPS, UV–Vis and TPR with hydrogen. Boehm method was applied for qualitative and quantitative determination of oxygen-containing groups on the carbon surface before and after cobalt deposition. The catalytic properties of cobalt modifications were tested in methanol decomposition. The dominant effect of activated carbon texture over the surface chemistry on the state and catalytic behavior of cobalt species was discussed.Financial support from Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and Bulgarian Ministry of Education (Projects DFNI-Е01/7/2012 and DFNI-E02/2/2014) is gratefully acknowledged.Peer reviewe