Investigation on preparation of nano-size Gd0.2Ce0.8O2?δ material and its humidity sensing properties

The mixed-conductive ceramic oxide Gd_0.2Ce_0.8O_2−δ (GCO) particles with 40–50 nm were synthesized by using a combined citrate and EDTA complexation method. The material was characterized with powder X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectrometry, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. A humidity sensor was fabricated by screening GCO onto a ceramic substrate with a pair of interdigitated electrodes. The sensor shows a linear relationship between logarithm impedance and relative humidity in the range of 33–98% when the measurement frequency range is 20 Hz–1 kHz. Typical response and recovery times of the sensor are 40 and 210 s, respectively, indicating that desorption rate of water molecule inside the GCO material is slower than the adsorption rate. The humidity sensing mechanism was discussed.     

Sol-gel-based, planar waveguide sensor for water vapor

A water vapor sensor based on a combination of sol-gel processing and planar optical waveguide technologies has been developed. The indicator erythrosin B was entrapped in a thin sol-gel film (thickness ～100 nm) prepared from methyltriethoxysilane, dimethyldiethoxysilane, and tetraethoxysilane. This dye exhibits an increase in absorbance in the presence of liquid or gaseous water. The sol-gel layer containing the dye was deposited onto a sol-gel-derived, single-mode planar waveguide. Outcoupled light intensity measurements (at 514.5 nm) over a range of water vapor concentrations (in a nitrogen gas stream) yielded a response over a wide range of relative humidity (<1-～70%) at room temperature. Response and reversal times were less than 1 min, which may make this sensor attractive for real-time monitoring applications.     

NaP1 zeolite synthesized via effective extraction of Si and Al from red mud for methylene blue adsorption

NaP1 zeolite, using red mud (RM) as raw material, was successfully prepared via alkali fusion and hydrothermal method. NaP1 zeolite, which was a mesoporous material, had specific surface area and pore diameter of 79.3 m²·g⁻¹ and 7.26 nm, respectively. NaP1 zeolite had excellent adsorption properties. Under the optimum adsorption conditions, methylene blue (MB) was adsorbed through NaP1 zeolite, the adsorption capacity was 48.7 mg·g⁻¹ and the removal efficiency was 97.1%. The adsorbent was regenerated with sodium chloride as eluent. The adsorption capacity of the adsorbent regenerated three times still was satisfactory 34.53 mg·g⁻¹, which showed the excellent stability performance from NaP1 zeolite. The adsorption conformed to the pseudo second order kinetic and Freundlich isotherm model. Moreover, MB molecules were adsorbed by diffusion on the outer surface, diffusion on the inner surface, and adsorption on the inner surface of NaP1 zeolite. And, during the external diffusion, electrostatic attraction and hydrogen bonding created. Al and Si were extracted from RM to prepare NaP1 zeolite with excellent adsorption properties. This result provides an important example for the development of the potential value of RM.     

Nanoporous polymeric transmission gratings for high-speed humidity sensing

Nanoporous polymeric transmission gratings are demonstrated to be an excellent platform for high-speed optical humidity sensing. The grating structures were fabricated with a modified holographic, polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (H-PDLC) system. The sensing mechanism was based on changes in the relative transmission associated with the adsorption and desorption of water vapour by nanopores. The spectral changes due to varying humidity levels were measured by a spectrometer and compared with the calculated results based on the coupled wave theory. When the relative humidity (RH) changed from 40% to 95%, the relative transmission at 475?nm increased from 6.3% to 46.6% and that at 702?nm increased from 4%?to 64%; these results indicate the sensor's high sensitivity. In addition, the sensor demonstrated excellent reversibility and reproducibility over a large RH range (from 20% to 100% RH). Moreover, the response time of the sensor was measured to be less than 350?ms, making it suitable for many high-speed humidity-sensing applications.     

Construction of Dual-Channel Water Transport in Mesoporous Silica Low Humidity Sensors to Achieve High Sensitivity

In this paper, strong hydrophilic poly(ionic liquid)s (PILs) are selectively grafted on different positions (mesoporous channels and outer surface) of mesoporous silica via thiol-ene click chemical reaction. The purposes of selective grafting are on the one hand, to explore the differences of adsorption and transportation of water molecules in mesoporous channels and on the outer surface, and on the other hand, to combine the two approaches (intra-pore grafting and external surface grafting) to reasonably design SiO₂@PILs low humidity sensing film with synergetic function to achieve high sensitivity. The results of low relativehumidity （RH） sensing test show that the sensing performance of humidity sensor based on mesoporous silica grafted with PILs in the channels is better than that of humidity sensor based on mesoporous silica grafted with PILs on the outer surface. Compared with water molecules transport single channel, the construction of dual-channel water transport significantly improves the sensitivity of the low humidity sensor, and the response of the sensor is up to 4112% in the range of 7–33% RH. Moreover, the existence of micropores and the formation of dual-channel water transport affect the adsorption/desorption behaviors of the sensor under different humidity ranges, especially below 11% RH.     

Characterisation and environmental application of an Australian natural zeolite for basic dye removal from aqueous solution

An Australian natural zeolite was collected, characterised and employed for basic dye adsorption in aqueous solution. The natural zeolite is mainly composed of clinoptiloite, quartz and mordenite and has cation-exchange capacity of 120 meq/100g. The natural zeolite presents higher adsorption capacity for methylene blue than rhodamine B with the maximal adsorption capacity of 2.8 x 10(-5) and 7.9 x 10(-5)mol/g at 50 degrees C for rhodamine B and methylene blue, respectively. Kinetic studies indicated that the adsorption followed the pseudo second-order kinetics and could be described as two-stage diffusion process. The adsorption isotherm could be fitted by the Langmuir and Freundlich models. Thermodynamic calculations showed that the adsorption is endothermic process with Delta H(0) at 2.0 and 8.7 kJ/mol for rhodamine B and methylene blue. It has also found that the regenerated zeolites by high-temperature calcination and Fenton oxidation showed similar adsorption capacity but lower than the fresh sample. Only 60% capacity could be recovered by the two regeneration techniques.     

Preparation of TiN-WN composite particles for selective adsorption of methylene blue dyes in water

This study synthesizes TiN-WN composite nanoparticles with a broad Ti molar ratio, i.e., f_Ti ranging from 0.18 to 0.94, by a facile urea-assisted nitridation route at 800 °C in flowing nitrogen atmosphere. The particles comprise mainly mixtures of TiN and WN nanocrystallites when f_Ti ≤ 0.80. The composites show a selective adsorption against methylene blue (MB) dyes in water; to which, the adsorption under dark situations reaches as much as 90% within 90 min duration when using an initial MB concentration of 10^?5 M. In comparison, the composites show virtually negligible adsorption to methyl orange dye. This selective adsorption stems partly from the electrostatic interaction since surface of the composite particles bears a negative net charge for the cationic MB molecules. In addition, the composite particles also render a moderate photocatalytic degradation to the MB molecules under visible light illuminations.     

Na0.5Li0.5CoO2 nanopowders: Facile synthesis,characterization and their application for the removal of methylene blue dye from aqueous solution

In this paper, delafossite-type Na_0.5Li_0.5CoO₂ nanoparticles (NPs) with an average particle size of 50 nm were successfully synthesized by sol–gel method. Prepared NPs were characterized by differential thermal analysis, powder X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and scanning tunneling microscopy. The nanoparticles showed the excellent adsorption properties towards methylene blue dye (MBD) as a reactive dye. The kinetics of removal of MBD in aqueous solutions was studied in a series of experiments which were varied in the amount of NPs, contact time, pH, and temperature. The experimental data were fitted very well in the pseudo-second order kinetic model and the Freundlich adsorption isotherm model. 92% of dye was successfully removed in 10 min using 0.02 g Na_0.5Li_0.5CoO₂ NPs in a pH = 11. Thermodynamic study indicates that the adsorption of MBD is feasible, and spontaneous in nature.     

Removal of methylene blue from aqueous solution by adsorption onto pineapple leaf powder

The ability of an unconventional bio-adsorbent, pineapple leaf powder (PLP) for the adsorption of methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solution was studied. It was observed that intra-particle diffusion was involved in the adsorption process and that the kinetic data fitted well with a pseudo-second-order equation. Fitting parameters revealed that the rate of adsorption increased with decrease in dye concentration and decrease in ionic strength while the mixing speed did not have a significant effect on adsorption. The adsorption was favorable at higher pH and lower temperature, and the equilibrium data were well fitted by the Langmuir isotherm. The maximum adsorption capacity varied from 4.68 × 10⁻⁴ to 9.28 × 10⁻⁴ mol/g when pH increases from 3.5 to 9.5. Thermodynamic parameters suggest that the adsorption is a typical physical process, spontaneous, and exothermic in nature. The results revealed that this agricultural waste has potential to be used as an economical adsorbent for the removal of methylene blue from aqueous solution.     

Immobilization of Trichoderma viride for enhanced methylene blue biosorption: Batch and column studies

An efficient dye biosorbent was developed by entrapping a fungus mold, Trichoderma viride, within loofa sponge (LS) matirx. Immobilization enhanced the sorption of dye by 30% at equilibrium as compared with T. viride free biomass (TVFB). The maximum dye biosorption capacity of T. viride immobilized onto loofa sponge (TVILS) and TVFB was found to be 201.52 and 155.06 mg g⁻¹ biomass, respectively. The kinetics of dye removal by TVILS was rapid, with 84.3% sorption within the first 30 min and equilibrium after 90 min, whereas sorption by TVFB was slower as 61.4% dye was removed in first 30 min and equilibrium was achieved in 120 min. Biosorption kinetics and equilibria followed the pseudo-second-order and Langmuir adsorption models. FTIR spectroscopy of T. viride biomass showed that amine, hydroxyl, carbonyl and amide bonds were involved in the sorption of dye. Dye desorption from dye-laden TVILS with 0.1 M HCl was 99%. Regenerated TVILS was reusable without any appreciable decrease in its biosorption capacity during five repeated cycles. The dye removing capacity of TVILS in a continuous-flow column bioreactor was better than in batch-scale procedures. The study shows that TVILS has the potential of application as an efficient biosorbent for the removal of methylene blue from aqueous solutions.     

Development of microwave assisted zeolite–water adsorption heat pump

A microwave assisted zeolite–water adsorption heat pump system was designed, manufactured and investigated experimentally. The influence of operation time of microwave oven on performance of the adsorption heat pump was studied. The performance criteria: coefficient of performance, specific cooling power and volumetric cooing power, were calculated for the designed and tested adsorption heat pump system. The regeneration of adsorbent bed was achieved very rapidly (35 min) by using microwave heating system. The poor thermal conductivity of adsorbent did not affect the periods of isosteric heating and isobaric desorption processes.     

多级结构α-MoO3空心微球的构筑及其对有机染料的吸附性能

具有多级结构的半导体金属氧化物, 其特有的立体空间结构使材料具有超高活性, 在吸附领域具有应用潜力。研究采用简单的一步溶剂热法制备了空心球状的MoO₂前驱体, 400 ℃热处理后得到多级结构α-MoO₃空心微球。空心球的直径为600~800 nm, 由宽度约70 nm的纳米棒构筑而成。该球状α-MoO₃纳米材料对亚甲基蓝(MB)染料具有优良的吸附性能。当α-MoO₃吸附剂用量为0.5 g/L、MB染料浓度为20 mg/L、吸附时间为5 min时, 移除率可达到73.40%。吸附60 min时, 吸附达到平衡, 此后移除率为97.53%~99.65%。该吸附动力学过程符合拟二级动力学模型, 吸附等温线符合 Langmuir 模型拟合, 最大吸附量为 1543.2 mg/g。α-MoO₃微球由于多级且中空的纳米结构, 对MB染料具有用量少、吸附速率快和吸附完全等特点。该材料可以用于吸附废水中其他有机染料。     

Biosorptive uptake of methylene blue using Mediterranean green alga Enteromorpha spp.

Batch biosorption experiments were carried out for the removal of methylene blue, a basic dye, from aqueous solution using raw and dried Enteromorpha spp., Mediterranean green alga. A series of assays were undertaken to assess the effect of the system variables, i.e. contact time, solution pH and sorbent amount. The results had showed that sorption capacity was optimal using 6–10 solution pH range (i.e. maximum adsorption capacity of 274 mg/g). The minimum sorbent concentration experimentally found to be sufficient to reach the total removal of the dye molecules from the aqueous solution was 5 g/L. Besides, equilibrium data were fitted using five linearisable isotherm models. The related results showed that the experimental data were very well represented by the Langmuir model for the linear regression analysis and both the Langmuir and Redlich–Peterson isotherm models for the non-linear analysis. In both cases, such modelling behaviour confirms the monolayer coverage of methylene blue molecules onto energetically homogenous Enteromopha surface. In addition, an exhaustive comparative study was done to situate this marine biomass among other proposed sorbents.     

Moisture sorption and plasticization of bloodmeal-based thermoplastics

Sorption characteristics, thermo-mechanical and mechanical properties of bloodmeal-based thermoplastics have been investigated between water activities (a _w) of 0.2 and 0.8, using water and tri-ethylene glycol (TEG) as plasticizers. Three different mass ratios of TEG to water were used, 1:1, 1:2 and 5:6 with a total plasticizer content of 60 parts per hundred parts bloodmeal. It was found that the equilibrium moisture content and mechanical properties were highly dependent on relative humidity suggesting that material properties may vary during use. The BET and Flory–Huggins equations gave the best fit for desorption and adsorption, respectively, but a significant difference was observed between adsorption and desorption behaviour below a water activity of 0.6, which was thought to be due to changes in intermolecular interactions. The monolayer adsorption capacity (0.05 g/g) was unaffected by the TEG content, using the BET sorption isotherm. The water activity required to form a monolayer (a _wl) was also independent of the amount of TEG, but was different for adsorption and desorption (about 0.5 and 0.2, respectively). Increasing TEG did not have a strong influence on the equilibrium moisture content, especially at low water activity. Dynamic mechanical analysis revealed that the glass transition temperature decreased almost linearly with increasing water activity, ranging between 3 and 85 °C, however, above a water activity of 0.6 a second transition was observed, most likely due to phase separation. Depending of TEG content, tensile strength increased from about 10 to 15 MPa at a water activity of 0.4, where after a drastic decrease was observed. A similar trend was observed for elongation at break. At low water activity (below 0.4) elongation was less than 3%, increasing between 30 and 50% at higher water activities. It was concluded that 10–15 wt% represented a critical point above which mechanical properties becomes very sensitive to the relative humidity of the environment.     

Comparison of zinc oxide nanoparticles and its nano-crystalline particles on the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue

Comparison of ZnO nanoparticles and its nano-crystalline particles on the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue was investigated. ZnO nanoparticles and its nano-crystalline particles were synthesized from sprayed droplets of an aqueous zinc nitrate solution by flame spray pyrolysis and spray pyrolysis assisted with an electrical furnace, respectively. ZnO nanoparticles of 20 nm in average diameter and ZnO nano-crystalline particles of 20 nm in the grain size were prepared to compare the photocatalytic activity. The photocatalytic activity of those ZnO particles was evaluated by measuring the degradation of methylene blue in water under the illumination of ultraviolet rays. Effect of the particle morphology, initial concentration of methylene blue, and photocatalyst loading on the degradation of the methylene blue was investigated under the illumination of ultraviolet rays. The photocatalytic degradation capacity of the ZnO nanoparticles was higher than that of the ZnO nano-crystalline particles. The efficiency of photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue increased with increase in photocatalyst loading and decrease in initial concentration regardless of particle morphology.     

Tailoring of 2D MoS2 microspheres on 3D low-cost DE for the efficient removal of hazardous cationic dyes

The primary challenge involved in the water treatment field is to treat/clean the contaminated waste dye solutions before it releases into the environment. Industrial contaminant such as dyes are released into water streams, rendering the water unfit for further use. Treatment of such dye contaminants is still a challenging tasks that has evolved as one of the leading issues in environmental remediation. Some of the significant limitations in dye adsorption include time-consuming, synthetic routes, expensive adsorbents, more contact time, less adsorption performances and use of more adsorbents. To address such problems, herein in this work, 2D MoS₂ molybdenum disulfide)-3D DE (diatomaceous earth) hybrid materials were synthesized by a facile and efficient hydrothermal route. The prepared innovative combination of 2D & 3D porous hybrid materials demonstrated to be efficient adsorbents for the efficient removal of malachite green (MG) dye from aqueous solution with superior 97 % removal efficiency within 5 mins and with an extended 60 mins of contact time possible to achieve 99.9 % of removal efficiency. Furthermore, the maximum adsorption capacity for DE was only 0.78 mg/g and developed 2D MoS₂-3D DE exhibited an outstanding 110 mg/g for MB dye which is a significant improvement when compared to pristine DE. On the other hand, the 2D MoS₂-3D DE was explored as a membrane-based filter for the removal of other important cationic pollutant methylene blue (MB) dye which showed 100 % rejection for varied MB volumes from 50 to 200 mL with average flux rate of 2200 L.m^?2.h^?1. Additionally, the 2D-3D hybrid adsorbents substantiated with better recyclability with up to 5 cycle performances which could be an excellent candidate for the removal of industrially important cationic dyes in the future.     

Activated carbon nanofibers derived from coconut shell charcoal for dye removal application

Activated carbon nanofibers (ACNF) have been successfully prepared using an electrospinning method with coconut shell charcoal (CSC) as a carbon source and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) as a spinning polymer agent. The high voltage of 10 kV was applied for the electrospinning system. The positive electrode of the high voltage power supply was connected to the needle tip, and the grounded electrode was connected to the metallic collector wrapped with an aluminum foil. The dry fibers in the form of a fibrous mat were collected in the aluminum foil. The average pore diameters of the generated fibers for all variables ranging from 2.23 to 3.73 nm corresponding to mesoporous carbon nanofibers. The total pore volumes were ranging from 0.50 to 0.92 cm³/g. IACNF-60 had the largest surface area of 1,277 m²/g obtained from the use of PVA 12 w/v %, 60 wt% CSC, and the use of iodine treatment before thermal stabilization, carbonization, and activation stages. Methylene blue solution was used as a model for the dye adsorption capacity that followed the Langmuir adsorption model. IACNF-60 also indicated the highest theoretical maximum monolayer adsorption capacity in the amount of 166.7 mg/g. Furthermore, the methylene blue removal ability of IACNF-60 for the third cycle was maintained relatively constant at 96%.     

Scavenging behaviour of meranti sawdust in the removal of methylene blue from aqueous solution

Meranti (Philippine mahogany) sawdust, an inexpensive material, showed strong scavenging behaviour through adsorption for the removal of methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solution. Batch studies were performed to evaluate and optimize the effects of various parameters such as contact time, pH, initial dye concentrations and adsorbent dosage. Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin isotherms were used to analyze the equilibrium data at different temperatures. The experimental data fitted well with the Langmuir adsorption isotherm, indicating thereby the mono layer adsorption of the dye. The monolayer sorption capacity of meranti sawdust for MB was found to be 120.48, 117.64, 149.25 and 158.73 mg/g at 30, 40, 50 and 60 °C, respectively. Thermodynamic calculations showed that the MB adsorption process is endothermic and spontaneous in nature. Kinetic studies showed that the adsorption followed a pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The results indicated that the meranti sawdust could be an alternative material in place of more costly adsorbents used for dye removal.     

Surface-type multifunctional sensor based on 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4′-isopropylphenyl) porphyrin

In this study, an organic semiconductor 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4′-isopropylphenyl) porphyrin (TIPP) was synthesized and investigated as an active material in surface-type multifunctional sensor. As electrodes, 100 nm thick Ag films were deposited on 25 mm × 25 mm glass substrate with 40 μm gap between them. Thin film of TIPP of area 15 mm × 15 mm was thermally sublimed to cover the gap between the silver electrodes. Thickness of TIPP film was 100 nm. A change in electrical resistance and capacitance of the fabricated device was observed with the increase in relative humidity (RH), temperature, and illumination. Hysteresis, response, and recovery times were investigated over a wide range of RH (0–94%). Activation energy of the TIPP was estimated. An equivalent circuit of the Ag/TIPP/Ag humidity, temperature, and illumination sensor was developed. Humidity, temperature, illumination dependent capacitive, and resistive properties of this sensor make it promising for use in a humidity, temperature, and lux multi-meters.     

Modification of chitosan by zeolite A and adsorption of Bezactive Orange 16 from aqueous solution

This study represents new material based on chitosan modified by zeolite A as adsorbent for anionic dye, using Bezactive Orange 16 as a model compound. Interactions between dye and chitosan/zeolite A film at initial concentrations and pH dye solution was investigated. In order to determine kinetics and the mechanism of adsorption four kinetic models were used. The results showed that the adsorption of Bezactive Orange 16 dye onto chitosan/zeolite A can be best described by pseudo-second order model. According to the Langmuir model, the maximum adsorption capacity reached 305.8 mg/g. The films could be potentially used as absorbents for anionic dye removal in wastewater treatment process.