Defining the kidney stone composition is important for determining a treatment plan, understanding etiology and preventing recurrence of nephrolithiasis, which is considered as a common, civilization disease and a serious worldwide medical problem. The aim of this study was to investigate the morphology and chemical composition of multicomponent kidney stones. The identification methods such as infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and electron microscopy with the EDX detector were presented. The studies by the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were also carried out for better understanding of their chemical structure. The chemical mapping by the FTIR microscopy was performed to show the distribution of individual chemical compounds that constitute the building blocks of kidney stones. The use of modern research methods with a particular emphasis on the spectroscopic methods allowed for a thorough examination of the subject of nephrolithiasis.

Activated alumina is widely used in industry as an adsorbent. Its strong affinity toward water allows for the profound dehydration of gas streams. To optimize such processes, a deeper insight into water interaction with activated alumina is required. This knowledge can be obtained using positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy, a sensitive tool that unravels previously unknown aspects of adsorption processes. Activated alumina (Compalox^® AN/V-813) was subjected to such a study supported by detailed characterization using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and N₂ adsorption–desorption. A complex porous structure of the material, consisting mainly of boehmite and η-Al₂O₃ or γ-Al₂O₃, was found. It is responsible for significant differences in adsorption and desorption. The course of adsorption is close to the classical layer-by-layer description. However, there are indications of initial water capture at active sites and final water reorganization consisting of filling the smallest free volumes that remain empty. The narrow mesopore inlets that keep water in the pores even at a relative vapor pressure of 0.4 are primarily responsible for the course of the desorption process. During adsorption, water is mainly maintained in the form of small clusters up to the highest pressures, whereas during desorption, it is continuous until narrow pore openings.

Activated alumina is widely used in industry as an adsorbent. Its strong affinity toward water allows for the profound dehydration of gas streams. To optimize such processes, a deeper insight into water interaction with activated alumina is required. This knowledge can be obtained using positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy, a sensitive tool that unravels previously unknown aspects of adsorption processes. Activated alumina (Compalox® AN/V-813) was subjected to such a study supported by detailed characterization using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and N2 adsorption-desorption. A complex porous structure of the material, consisting mainly of boehmite and η-Al₂O₃ or γ-Al2O3, was found. It is responsible for significant differences in adsorption and desorption. The course of adsorption is close to the classical layer-by-layer description. However, there are indications of initial water capture at active sites and final water reorganization consisting of filling the smallest free volumes that remain empty. The narrow mesopore inlets that keep water in the pores even at a relative vapor pressure of 0.4 are primarily responsible for the course of the desorption process. During adsorption, water is mainly maintained in the form of small clusters up to the highest pressures, whereas during desorption, it is continuous until narrow pore openings.

This study presents a systematic investigation of catalysts with a nominal Co loading of 10 wt% supported on nanocrystalline Zr1-xCexO2 (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) prepared via the one-step hard template method (using resin Amberlite® XAD7HP as a template) and evaluated in ethanol steam reforming at 420 °C with a H2O/EtOH molar ratio of 12. The influence of support composition on catalyst structure, reducibility, catalytic performance, carbon deposition and deactivation behaviour was investigated using N2 physisorption, XRD, Raman spectroscopy, XPS, H2-TPR and TEM. Although all catalysts initially exhibited nearly complete ethanol conversion, after 21 hours of operation in the stream, the Ce-containing catalysts retained significantly higher activity than Co/ZrO2. TEM analyses revealed that filamentous carbon deposits formed on all catalysts, irrespective of support composition, indicating that catalyst stability is not governed by the morphology of the deposited carbon. Nevertheless, substantial differences in carbon deposition rates and carbon structural ordering were observed. The lowest carbon accumulation rate was found for cobalt supported on zirconium-doped ceria, whereas Co/ZrO2 accumulated carbon most rapidly. The results demonstrate that catalyst deactivation is governed primarily by the redox properties of the support and its ability to sustain continuous oxidation of carbonaceous intermediates during ethanol steam reforming rather than by the nature of the carbon deposits themselves. Zirconium-doped ceria, as a support, provides the most favourable balance between oxygen mobility, oxygen-vacancy formation, and structural stability, resulting in improved resistance to carbon accumulation during ethanol steam reforming.