Biosorption of anionic dyes from aqueous solutions using a novel magnetic nanocomposite adsorbent based on rice husk ash

This study investigated the potential use of an agricultural waste, rice husk ash, for the removal of methyl orange. The adsorbent was prepared via a simple one-pot synthesis of magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (MIONs). The prepared magnetic nanocomposites were characterized using Fourier transform infrared, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and vibrating sample magnetometer techniques. Bach adsorption experiments were carried out to evaluate the effects of initial dye concentration, pH and contact time as well as MION content on adsorption capacity. The mechanism of dye adsorption was well fitted to a pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Moreover, the equilibrium data fitted well with the Langmuir isotherm model.     

Comparative assessment of growth supporting potential of different alginic acid salts

This study compares the cell survival of HeLa, osteoblasts (MG 63), and human umbilical cord stem cells (hUMSCs) in three different salts of alginic acid including sodium, potassium, and triethanolamine. While the treatment of the cells with wide range of concentrations of potassium and triethanolamine alginate did not adversely affect the cell growth, higher concentrations of sodium alginate inhibited cell growth on all the cell types tested. Furthermore, the cells encapsulated in potassium alginate beads showed enhanced cell survival compared to the growth in other salts. Our results indicated that potassium alginate can be used with wide varieties of cell types.     

The 2016 Thermal Spray Roadmap

Considerable progress has been made over the last decades in thermal spray technologies, practices and applications. However, like other technologies, they have to continuously evolve to meet new problems and market requirements. This article aims to identify the current challenges limiting the evolution of these technologies and to propose research directions and priorities to meet these challenges. It was prepared on the basis of a collection of short articles written by experts in thermal spray who were asked to present a snapshot of the current state of their specific field, give their views on current challenges faced by the field and provide some guidance as to the R&D required to meet these challenges. The article is divided in three sections that deal with the emerging thermal spray processes, coating properties and function, and biomedical, electronic, aerospace and energy generation applications.     

The influence of Si as reactive bonding agent in the electrophoretic coatings of HA–Si–MWCNTs on NiTi alloys

In this study, different composite coatings with 20 wt.% silicon and 1 wt.% multi-walled carbon nanotubes of hydroxyapatite were developed on NiTi substrate using a combination of electrophoretic deposition and reactive bonding during the sintering. Silicon was used as reactive bonding agent. During electrophoretic deposition, the constant voltage of 30 V was applied for 60 s. After deposition, samples were dried and then sintered at 850 °C for 1 h in a vacuum furnace. SEM, XRD and EDX were used to characterize the microstructure, phase and elemental identification of coatings, respectively. The SEM images of the coatings reveal a uniform and compact structure for HA–Si and HA–Si–MWCNTs. The presence of silicon as a reactive bonding agent as well as formation of new phases such as SiO₂, CaSiO₃ and Ca₃SiO₅ during the sintering process results in compact coatings and consumes produced phases from HA decomposition. Formation of the mentioned phases was confirmed using XRD analysis. The EDX elemental maps show a homogeneous distribution of silicon all over the composite coatings. Also, the bonding strength of HA–Si–MWCNTs coating is found to be 27.47 ± 1 MPa.     

Compatibilization effectiveness of maleated polypropylene compared to organoclay in PBT/PP blends

The compatibilization efficiency of a conventional compatibilizer (PP-grafted maleic anhydride) is compared with an organoclay of hydrophilic modifier (Cloisite 30B) in poly(butylene terephthalate)/polypropylene (PBT/PP) immiscible polymer blend. Moreover, the effect of PP-grafted maleic anhydride (PP-g-MA) on localization of Cloisite 30B organoclays is investigated, in this research. Accordingly, PBT/PP blends containing PP-g-MA, organoclay and PP-g-MA/organoclay are prepared by melt mixing method. According to morphological analysis, organoclays are more efficient than PP-g-MA in dispersion and distribution of droplets in PBT/PP blend. Additionally, the size of dispersed-droplets in PBT/PP/organoclay nanocomposite is lower than PBT/PP/PP-g-MA/organoclay sample. From X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy illustrations, it is shown that organoclays represent the higher level of intercalation structure in PBT/PP/organoclay compared to PBT/PP/PP-g-MA/organoclay nanocomposite. PBT/PP/Organoclay nanocomposite indicates higher viscosity and elasticity in comparison with PBT/PP/PP-g-MA/organoclay, as well. The present subject can be explained by the role of PP-g-MA in transferring some parts of organoclays from PBT matrix into PP droplets which hinders the break-up of dispersed-droplets. According to non-linear viscoelastic properties, PBT/PP/organoclay sample shows stronger stress overshoots than PBT/PP/PP-g-MA/organoclay in start-up of shear flow. Modified De Kee-Turcotte model is studied to investigate the yield stress and viscoelastic behavior of different samples. PBT/PP/Organoclay nanocomposite shows higher yield stress compared to PBT/PP blend filled by PP-g-MA/organoclay system.     

FEM of residual stress and surface displacement of a single shot in high repetition laser shock peening on biodegradable magnesium implant

Laser shock peening (LSP) is one of the prominent surface processing techniques to improve the mechanical characteristics by inducing compressive residual stress on the specimen surface. Generally, LSP is performed using high energy, low repetition pulsed laser. Recently, High repetition laser shock peening (HRLSP) on biodegradable magnesium alloys has been reported. Increased speed and reduced operating costs are the key highlights of HRLSP. This work is aimed towards understanding of the residual stress profile beneath the specimen surface, where a Finite element method (FEM) has been proposed to show the ability of a tightly focussed nanosecond laser pulse for peening magnesium. The depth of maximum compressive residual stress of 48 MPa at 28 mm beneath surface was the result of the simulation. Also the Von Misses stress was analytically found to be 31.5 MPa, which is similar to the value from FEM at 30 MPa. Furthermore, the plastic displacement of FEM at 4.02 µm compares reasonably well with the experimental result at 3.698 µm, thereby validating the Finite element model. If increase in CRS can be created by single shot of laser pulse, it can be concluded that the same can be done beneath the entire magnesium surface using appropriate scanning protocols.

     

Effect of process conditions on Fischer–Tropsch synthesis product selectivity over an industrial iron-based catalyst in slurry reactor

The authors present the application of the statistical model in CO hydrogenation to CH₄, C₂-C₄ and C₅₊ over industrial iron-based catalyst (100 Fe/5 Cu/4.2 K/25 SiO₂) in a 1-L stirred tank slurry reactor. The effect of different reaction conditions, including temperatures (T = 493, 513 and 533 K), pressures (P = 0.8, 1.5, 2.25, and 2.5 MPa), synthesis gas feed molar ratios (H₂/CO = 0.67 and 2), and gas space velocity (GSV) from 0.52 to 23.5 Ndm³/g-Fe/h on selectivity investigated via a statistical models. The proposed selectivity model is very useful in the oil, gas, and petrochemical industries and can be used for interpretation of experimental data, comparison of performance of different reactor conditions, and reactor modeling and simulation studies. Furthermore, interaction between operating parameters such as pressure, temperature, H₂/CO, and GSV was investigated in selectivity models. A CUBIC polynomial was successfully fitted to the experimental data. It was concluded that C₅₊ selectivity shifts to higher with increasing total pressure (H₂/CO) ratio and decreasing temperature. Decreased H₂/CO ratio and temperature and increasing in the reactor pressure cause CH₄ formation decrease. Temperature and pressure fluctuations vary product distribution. As it is observed, the insignificant term in C₂-C₄ selectivity is pressure. With the models obtained from regression we can reach to the optimum condition for favorite products such as C₂-C₄ or C₅₊. So that optimization must be done to illustrate the optimum conditions. It was obtained that the maximum amount of C₅₊ and C₂-C₄ and minimum amount of methane achieved in T = 528.97 K, P = 1.23 bar, H₂/CO = 2, and GSV = 23.49 Ndm³/g-Fe/h.     

Effects of low-salinity water coupled with silica nanoparticles on wettability alteration of dolomite at reservoir temperature

Wettability alteration in porous media is one of the mechanisms for enhancing oil recovery through injecting low-salinity water into carbonate reservoirs, in which active ions can remove the carboxylic oil component from the rock surface, altering the rock's wettability toward a water-wet condition. This study investigated the concomitant effects of low-salinity water and hydrophilic SiO₂ nanoparticles on oil-wet dolomite rock. Results revealed that low-salinity water coupled with hydrophilic nano-SiO₂ in oil-wet dolomite rock remarkably affected the wettability alteration of the rock, showing that the simultaneous presence of ions in water and hydrophilic nano-SiO₂ led to considerable wettability alteration compared with using just low-salinity water.     

A generalized set of correlations for plus fraction characterization

The importance of accurate determination of the critical properties of plus fractions in prediction of phase behaviour of hydrocarbon mixtures by equations of state is well known in the petroleum industry. It has been stated in various papers (Elsharkawy, 2001) that using the plus fraction as a single group in equation of state calculations reduces the accuracy of the results. However in this work it has been shown that using the proper values of critical temperature and pressure for the plus fraction group can estimate the properties of hydrocarbon mixtures, and they are accurate enough to be used in reservoir engineering and enhanced oil recovery calculations. In this paper, a new method is proposed for calculating the critical properties of plus fractions of petroleum fluids. One can use this method either in predicting critical pressure and temperature of single carbon numbers (SCNs) after the splitting process or in predicting critical pressure and temperature of the plus fraction as a single group. A comparison study is performed against Riazi-Daubert correlation (Riazi and Daubert, 1987) and Sancet correlations (Sancet, 2007) for 25 oil samples taken from 14 fields from southwest Iran. The results indicate the superiority of the proposed method to the Riazi-Daubert and Sancet correlations.     

Synthesis and characterization of polyethylene glycol mediated silver nanoparticles by the green method

The roles of green chemistry in nanotechnology and nanoscience fields are very significant in the synthesis of diverse nanomaterials. Herein, we report a green chemistry method for synthesized colloidal silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) in polymeric media. The colloidal Ag NPs were synthesized in an aqueous solution using silver nitrate, polyethylene glycol (PEG), and β-D-glucose as a silver precursor, stabilizer, and reducing agent, respectively. The properties of synthesized colloidal Ag NPs were studied at different reaction times. The ultraviolet-visible spectra were in excellent agreement with the obtained nanostructure studies performed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and their size distributions. The Ag NPs were characterized by utilizing X-ray diffraction (XRD), zeta potential measurements and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR). The use of green chemistry reagents, such as glucose, provides green and economic features to this work.