The study of thermodynamics and kinetics methyl orange and malachite green by SWCNTs,SWCNT-COOH and SWCNT-NH2 as adsorbents from aqueous solution

The effective removal of dyes from aqueous wastes is among the most important issues for many industrialized countries. Removal of methyl orange (MO) and malachite green (MG) from aqueous solutions were studied using single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), carboxylate functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT-COOH) and amide functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT-NH₂). The adsorption process was found to be controlled by temperature, ionic strength, initial concentration, adsorbent dosage and contact time. The microstructure of carbon nanotubes was characterized using SEM and FTIR. The adsorbents studied exhibits high efficiency for MO and MG adsorption and the equilibrium states could be achieved in 20, 20, 15 (min) for SWCNTs, SWCNT-COOH, SWCNT-NH₂, respectively. Adsorption capacity of each adsorbent increased with increasing active groups on the surface of carbon nanotube, where SWCNT-NH₂ was the most effectively adsorbent.     

纳米氧化锌光催化降解甲基橙的研究

以硝酸锌、聚乙烯吡咯烷酮为原料,反应温度为80℃,反应时间为8 h,通过加热煅烧制备出纳米氧化锌粉体,煅烧温度500℃可制备纳米级的ZnO粉末,平均粒径为32 nm;水溶液中甲基橙在ZnO光照催化下,能迅速分解。以甲基橙为脱色对象,讨论了催化剂用量、光照时间及pH值对光催化降解甲基橙性能的影响。     

g-C_3N_4/TiO_2复合光催化剂的制备及其性能研究

以四异丙醇钛和三乙胺为原料,通过水解法合成TiO2。三聚氰胺于580℃煅烧得到g-C3N4,g-C3N4与TiO2按一定比例混合,在超声波条件下加入适量的甲醇得到复合材料g-C3N4/TiO2。以甲基橙为光催化反应模型考察了复合材料的紫外光催化活性。结果表明,g-C3N4/TiO2具有良好的光催化活性,用量3%时,甲基橙脱色率达96.6%。     

尖晶石型铁氧体CaxZn1-xFe2O4的制备及其光催化性能研究

采用改进的溶胶-凝胶法制备CaxZn1-xFe2O4粉体。用X射线粉末衍射仪(XRD)对样品进行结构表征,随着Ca2+掺杂量的增加,样品出现CaFe2O4的衍射峰。使用扫描电子显微镜(SEM)对样品进行形貌表征,结果表明样品的形貌呈不规则的颗粒状,且颗粒大小为2μm,并显现出片层堆叠情况。通过对甲基橙进行光催化降解实验,对CaxZn1-xFe2O4粉体的光催化活性进行了研究。结果表明,经过Ca2+掺杂的CaxZn1-xFe2O4样品,光催化活性明显提高。     

Plant oil bioconversion into increase biological activity through lipases derived from wastes

The aim of this study was to show that abundant and inexpensive plant oils can be biotransformed to increase biological activity (antioxidant, antimicrobial and cytotoxicity) through hydrolysis reaction catalysed by lipases. We tested homemade and commercial lipases through the biotransformation of nine different plant oils in forty different combinations. First, the chemical composition of the samples was investigated. Thereafter, biological tests were conducted to assess the antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of the sampled biotransformation products, as well as analyzed their influence on the viability of healthy and cancer cells. Summarising, sunflower, corn and olive oils modified by orange waste-obtained lipases presented the most promising results, reaching up to 90% of antioxidant activity increase and significant growth inhibition of bacteria colonies belonging to genera Escherichia, Listeria, Staphylococcus, Pseudomonas and Salmonella. In addition, those compounds affected human oral squamous carcinoma cells. The bioconversion of plant oils through lipases improves their biological properties and might be an option for biotechnological application.     

Enhancement of biohydrogen production from sustainable orange peel wastes using Enterobacter species isolated from domestic wastewater

Five facultative anaerobic bacterial isolates were recovered from domestic wastewater. These isolates were identified based on the 16S rRNA as Enterobacter aerogenes (one isolate), Enterobacter cloacae (two isolates), and Cronobacter sakazakii (three isolates). These isolates were examined for their potential to evolve hydrogen on a glucose medium. The most potent hydrogen‐producing isolates, E aerogenes (KY549389) and E cloacae (KY524293), were examined for their capacity to generate hydrogen, acetone, butanol, and ethanol using orange peel (OP) hydrolysate. OP powder was pretreated with n‐hexane to remove the toxicity of d ‐limonene. Different concentrations (4%, 6%, and 8% w/v) of limonene‐free OP were subjected to the boiling water (temperature of 100°C) or acid (HCl) treatments. The maximum fermentative H₂ production of 1700 and 1620 mL/L was obtained from 6% OP hydrolysate extracted with boiling water using facultative anaerobic E aerogenes (KY549389) and E cloacae (KY524293), respectively. Hydrogen production efficiency was 0.99 and 1.19 mol H₂/mol glucose for E aerogenes and E cloacae, respectively. The total fermentative acetone, butanol, and ethanol (ABE) generated by E aerogenes and E cloacae were 0.78 and 0.38 g/L including acetone (0.05 and 0.04 g/L), butanol (0.011 and 0.013 g/L), and ethanol (0.71 and 0.32 g/L), respectively. The maximum ABE productivity was 0.01 and 0.005 g/L/h generated at 60 g/L OP hydrolysate by E aerogenes and E cloacae, respectively. These strains were positive for nitrogen fixation (nitrogenase) capability estimated by the acetylene reduction assay. Application of OP hydrolysate without the addition of any nutritional components or reducing agent is considered an eco‐friendly, economical, and commercial substrate for desired biofuel production.     

Influence of calcination temperature on the photocatalytic performance of the hierarchical TiO2 pinecone-like structure decorated with CdS nanoparticles

Herein, a novel hierarchical TiO₂ pinecone-like structure (TPS) has been successfully fabricated for the first time by self-assembling anodic oxidation methods on the Ti plate. Then it was constructed that a series of CdS-TPS nanocomposites with different cycles CdS modifying by a successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) after different temperature annealing in air. The structures and properties of the CdS-TPS were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Current-voltage (I-V), ultraviolet-visible (UV–vis/DRS). The results shown that the optical properties of the CdS-TPS could be rationally tailored by adjusting the CdS-modified cycles and annealing temperature, which significantly enhanced photocatalytic activity. To be used in photocatalytic organic pollutant removal after optimizing both the CdS modification cycles and annealing temperature. The 15-CdS-TPS-500?°C exhibited significantly improved photocatalytic activities of methyl orange (MO) degradation under simulated sunlight irradiation. With 180?min, 85% of the MO (0.05?mM/L, 5?mL) was photodegraded and its kinetic constant reached to 0.0104?min^?1, which is the 3.0 times and 3.6 times quicker than that of 5-CdS-TPS-500?°C and 15-CdS-TPS-0?°C, respectively. This could be ascribed to the result of the synergy effects of the suitable quantity of CdS nanoparticles modifier, the special surface structure, excellent crystallinity, higher electrical conductivity, and band structure matching. The possible photocatalytic mechanism of the CdS-TPS sample is investigated as well.     

Photocatalytic degradation of organic dye using titanium dioxide modified with metal and non-metal deposition

In this study, photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange (MO) as an example of organic dye was investigated using different wt% Pd-loaded and N-doped P-25 titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanoparticles, as example of metal and nonmetal-doped TiO₂, respectively. The Pd-loaded and N-doped TiO₂ photocatalysts were prepared by post-incorporation method using K₂PdCl₄ and urea, respectively, as precursors. A variety of surface analysis techniques were used for characterization of surface and functional group while using ultraviolet/visible (UV–vis) analysis for monitoring photocatalytic degradation of MO. Kinetic parameters were obtained using Langmuir-Hinshelwood model to determine the degradation rate constants. It was found that the metal-loaded titanium dioxide degraded MO in water at a higher rate than did non-metal-loaded titanium dioxide fabricated by using the post-synthesis method. Also, the pure P25-TiO₂ degraded MO more than N-doped TiO₂ because of decreased surface area by particle agglomeration after being made by the post-incorporation method.