Equilibrium and kinetic mechanism for Reactive Black 5 sorption onto high lime Soma fly ash

Batch adsorption studies were carried out for the sorption of C.I. Reactive Black 5, a reactive dye, onto high lime fly ash, obtained from Soma Thermal Power Plant (Turkey), to be low cost adsorbent. The effect of various experimental parameters such as contact time, adsorbent dose and initial dye concentration were investigated. Determination of the adsorption equilibrium concentrations was determined by UV-vis spectrophotometry analytical method. Equilibrium data were fitted to the Freundlich and Langmuir isotherm equations and the equilibrium data were found to be well represented by the Freundlich isotherm equation. The adsorption kinetics of C.I. Reactive Black 5 onto high lime fly ash were also studied to characterize of the surface complexation reaction. A pseudo-second-order mechanism has been developed to predict the rate constant of the adsorption, the equilibrium capacity and initial adsorption rate with the effect of initial concentration. A single-stage batch adsorber design of the adsorption of C.I. Reactive Black 5 onto high lime fly ash has been studied based on the Freundlich isotherm equation.     

Determination of polyphenolic constituents and biological activities of bark extracts from different Pinus species

BACKGROUND: The most common commercially available pine bark extract is Pycnogenol^®, a standardised extract of Pinus maritima, which has been reported to have cardiovascular benefits and enhance microcirculation. The present study was conducted to determine the chemical composition of four pine bark extracts, assess their biological activities and to compare the results with Pycnogenol^®. RESULTS: The Pinus species were analysed by LC and LC‐MS; extracts of P. brutia and P. nigra showed higher levels of phenolic constituents compared to P. sylvestris and P. pinea. In particular, P. brutia contained extremely high concentrations of taxifolin (18.5%). The highest radical scavenging activities were attained with P. pinea (88.6%), P. nigra (87.2%) and P. brutia (86.4%) bark extracts. Additionally, anticarcinogenic effects of the extracts and their kinetics were determined in four cell lines including human prostate (PC‐3, DU 145, LNCaP) and breast adenocarcinoma (MCF7) by the MTT assay. Cell viability was reduced to 40% by extracts of P. pinea, and P. sylvestris in PC‐3 cells showing a similar effect like the positive control, CPT‐11. CONCLUSION: Pinus species other than P. maritima definitively possess high biological activities, and therefore present a huge potential to be utilised in the food and the pharmaceutical industries. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry     

Characterization of water-soluble conjugates of polyacrylic acid and antigenic peptide of FMDV by size exclusion chromatography with quadruple detection

Intermolecular complex by electrostatic interaction and specifically coupled conjugates between polyacrylic acid (PAA) and a synthetic peptide representing 170-188 sequence from the GH loop of VP1 protein of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) were investigated as an intermolecular model system due to their importance in biotechnology and immunology. In this study, polyacrylic acid (PAA) with a synthetic peptide representing 170-188 sequence from the GH loop of VP1 protein of foot-and-mouth disease virus at a wide range of mixing ratios of components (C_Peptide/C_PAA 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1.0, respectively) were characterized by size-exclusion high performance liquid chromatography with on-line refractive index, UV, light scattering and viscometer detectors. The results revealed that two molecules are both negatively charged as a result of repulsive forces preventing complex formation at neutral pH. Therefore, these molecules bound covalently to each other by using water-soluble carbodiimide when pH levels are higher than the pI of the peptide. High performance liquid chromatography analysis showed that the amount of protein-polymer complex increased and free peptide amount decreased with the increase in molar ratio of the peptide. Also, this paper presents that number of the bound peptide molecules with one PAA molecule was expressed by a Langmuir-type equation as a function of the amount of excess synthetic peptide existing free in the solution.     

A mass spectrometry method for quantitative and kinetic analysis of gas release from nuclear materials and its application to helium desorption from UO2 and fission gas release from irradiated fuel

A new system has been developed to determine absolute quantities of gas (mainly noble gases) released during thermal desorption in the range from 10^?12 to 10^?5 mol with a precision of few percent. The system is actually designed for simultaneous measurement of gaseous elements like He, Xe, Kr, thermally released from nuclear fuel samples and also allows the determination of the release kinetics as a function of time. This system, called Quantitative GAs MEasurement System (Q-GAMES), is based on the principle of collecting, purifying and spiking the sample gas in a “high-pressure” chamber, and continuous sampling of the gas for mass spectrometric analysis without sample depletion during the experiment. It is equipped with its own spike generator and with different gas purification systems. It is shown that this system fulfills the requirement to work with two existing very high-temperature gas desorption facilities for nuclear materials. This paper describes the Q-GAMES principle, the spiking system, its calibration, its operative mode, the different quantification techniques, as well as its technical data, in combination with some examples of typical application.     

Simultaneous growth of self-patterned carbon nanotube forests with dual height scales

In this study, we report on a unique, one-step fabrication technique enabling the simultaneous synthesis of vertically aligned multi-walled carbon nanotubes (VA-MWCNTs) with dual height scales through alcohol catalyzed chemical vapor deposition (ACCVD). Regions of VA-MWCNTs with different heights were well separated from each other leading to a self-patterning on the surface. We devised a unique layer-by-layer process for application of catalyst and inhibitor precursors on oxidized Si (100) surfaces before the ACCVD step to achieve a hierarchical arrangement. Patterning could be controlled by adjusting the molarity and application sequence of precursors. Contact angle measurements on these self-patterned surfaces indicated that manipulation of these hierarchical arrays resulted in a wide range of hydrophobic behavior changing from that of a sticky rose petal to a lotus leaf.     

Forming of Protein Bubbles and Porous Films Using Co‐Axial Electrohydrodynamic Flow Processing

Air and 5 wt.‐% BSA solution are used as a model system to generate protein‐coated microbubbles, which are significantly smaller in diameter than the processing needle apertures. The effects of processing parameters (applied voltage and flow rate) on the bubble size distribution and stability are studied. The optimal processing conditions are also explored in terms of heating of the solutions and prepared structures. Both individual microbubbles and porous films were successfully prepared using this method which has significant potential for the preparation of microbubbles for drug delivery systems, porous coatings, thin films, scaffolds and ultrasound contrast agents. The versatile nature of the method implies that many macromolecules and other active agents can be used.

     

Assessment of the Axial Load Response of an H Pile Driven in Multilayered Soil

Most of the current design methods for driven piles were developed for closed-ended pipe piles driven in either pure clay or clean sand. These methods are sometimes used for H piles as well, even though the axial load response of H piles is different from that of pipe piles. Furthermore, in reality, soil profiles often consist of multiple layers of soils that may contain sand, clay, silt or a mixture of these three particle sizes. Therefore, accurate prediction of the ultimate bearing capacity of H piles driven in a mixed soil is very challenging. In addition, although results of well documented load tests on pipe piles are available, the literature contains limited information on the design of H piles. Most of the current design methods for driven piles do not provide specific recommendations for H piles. In order to evaluate the static load response of an H pile, fully instrumented axial load tests were performed on an H pile (HP?310×110) driven into a multilayered soil profile consisting of soils composed of various amounts of clay, silt and sand. The base of the H pile was embedded in a very dense nonplastic silt layer overlying a clay layer. This paper presents the results of the laboratory tests performed to characterize the soil profile and of the pile load tests. It also compares the measured pile resistances with those predicted with soil property- and in situ test-based methods.