Water treatment methods for reducing silica concentration in water containing at least 100 ppm dissolved or suspended silica include contacting the water with particles comprising mesoporous alumina having surface area ranging from about 250 m2/g to about 600 m2/g and pore volume ranging from about 0.1 cm3/g to abou...

A method for making the phosphonium sul-fonatc salt of generic formula (1): wherein each X is independently a halogen or hydrogen, provided that the molar ratio of halogen lo hydrogen is greater than about 0.90; p is 0 or 1 and q and r aic integers of 0 to about 7 provided that q+r is less than 8 and mat if p is not...