Transport of lithium through a supported liquid membrane of LIX54 and TOPO in kerosene

A mathematical transport model is developed for the extraction of lithium from dilute synthetic solution, simulating geothermal water, using a supported liquid membrane (SLM) of LIX54 (major component is -acetyl-m-dodecylacetophenone) and TOPO (tri-n-octylphosphine oxide) in kerosene. The model is based on fundamental mass transfer and kinetics mechanisms that account for all possible transport resistances. The model is solved numerically and is used to investigate the effect of various extraction conditions and membrane support characteristics. Reasonable agreement is found between the predicted and the experimental results reported in literature.     

Graft Copolymerization of Acrylamide onto Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch (OPEFB) Fiber

Grafting of acrylamide (AAm) onto oil palm empty fruits bunch fiber using hydrogen peroxide as initiator and methyl acrylate as comonomer was investigated. The amount of comonomer needed to make grafting of acrylamide possible was determined. The percentage of poly(acrylamide) and the comonomer in the final graft copolymer was estimated by elemental analysis. Results obtained indicated that methyl acrylate facilitated the incorporation of acrylamide monomer onto OPEFB. The reactivity ratios for both monomers were determined by using Fineman–Ross plot. The effects of reaction temperature and period as well as amount of the initiator, solvent, monomer and comonomer on the percentage of grafting at fixed amount of comonomer (11 mmol) were studied. Maximum percentage of grafting was achieved when the amount of initiator and solvent 3.98×10⁻³ mol and 50 mL respectively. The optimum reaction temperature was 50 ^○C and the reaction period was 90 min. Highest percentage of grafting was 232% when 25.6 mmol of acrylamide was used under these optimum conditions. The presence of functional group in the grafted polymer is characterized by infrared spectroscopy and the surface morphology is observed by scanning electron microscopy. Thermoanalytic investigation on OPEFB and OPEFB-g-PAAM were carried out to evaluate the thermal stability and respective activation energy of the materials.     

A novel approach for extracting cellulose nanofibers from lignocellulosic biomass by ball milling combined with chemical treatment

Cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) were isolated from kenaf fibers and wheat straw by formic acid (FA)/acetic acid (AA), peroxyformic acid (PFA)/peroxyacetic acid (PAA), hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) treatment; and subsequently through ball milling treatment. Characterization of extracted cellulose and cellulose nanofibers was carried out through Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). TEM images showed that extracted cellulose nanofibers had diameter in the range of 8–100 nm. FTIR and XRD results implied that hemicellulose and lignin were mostly removed from lignocellulosic biomass with an increase in crystallinity, and isolation of cellulose nanofibers was successful. The TGA results showed that decomposition temperature of cellulose nanofibers increased by about 27°C when compared with that of untreated lignocellulosic biomass. No significant change was observed in the decomposition temperature of bleached celluloses after ball milling. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 42990.     

Synthesis,Characterization and Catalytic Activities of Palladium(II) Nitroaryl Complexes

Two palladium(II) nitroaryl complexes trans-[bromo(p-nitrophenyl)bis(triphenylphosphine)palladium(II)] 1 and trans-[bromo(2,4-dinitrophenyl)bis(triphenylphosphine)palladium(II)] 2 have been synthesized. The complexes were characterized by FTIR and NMR (¹H, ¹³C and ³¹P) spectroscopy and elemental analysis. The molecular structure of complex 2, as confirmed by X-ray crystallography, reveals that the Pd atom and its neighboring groups (two PPh₃, Br and phenylene group) lie in a slightly distorted square plane. In the UV–Vis spectra of the complexes 1 and 2, the palladium to aryl charge transfer bands were observed. The emission peaks from the singlet excited states (S₁ → S₀) were observed in the photoluminescence spectra of the complexes. The thermal stability of the complexes has been studied by thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). TGA data showed that both complexes are thermally stable up to 200 °C, and complex 1 is more stable than 2. The catalytic efficiency of the new palladium(II) complexes was studied as demonstrated using the Sonogashira coupling reactions with good yields. The experimental results suggest that the Sonogashira coupling reactions can be performed at moderate temperature (50 °C) using these new palladium(II) complexes as catalysts.     

Microbial fuel cell-based sensor for Enterobacter sp. KBH6958 activity monitoring during hydrogen production: the effects of pH and glucose concentration

Journal of Applied Electrochemistry - A microbial fuel cell (MFC) is an electricity-generating device utilising electrochemically active microorganisms as biocatalysts. Using MFC as a biosensor to...     

Comparison of different extraction methods for the extraction of major bioactive flavonoid compounds from spearmint (Mentha spicata L.) leaves

Different bioactive flavonoid compounds including catechin, epicatechin, rutin, myricetin, luteolin, apigenin and naringenin were obtained from spearmint (Mentha spicata L.) leaves by using conventional soxhlet extraction (CSE) and supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO₂) extraction at different extraction schemes and parameters. The effect of different parameters such as temperature (40, 50 and 60 °C), pressure (100, 200 and 300 bar) and dynamic extraction time (30, 60 and 90 min) on the supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO₂) extraction of spearmint flavonoids was investigated using full factorial arrangement in a completely randomized design (CRD). The extracts of spearmint leaves obtained by CSE and optimal SC-CO₂ extraction conditions were further analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to identify and quantify major bioactive flavonoid compounds profile. Comparable results were obtained by optimum SC-CO₂ extraction condition (60 °C, 200 bar, 60 min) and 70% ethanol soxhlet extraction. As revealed by the results, soxhlet extraction had a higher crude extract yield (257.67 mg/g) comparing to the SC-CO₂ extraction (60.57 mg/g). Supercritical carbon dioxide extract (optimum condition) was found to have more main flavonoid compounds (seven bioactive flavonoids) with high concentration comparing to the 70% ethanol soxhlet extraction (five bioactive flavonoids). Therefore, SC-CO₂ extraction is considered as an alternative process compared to the CSE for obtaining the bioactive flavonoid compounds with high concentration from spearmint leaves.     

Effect of surface tension gradient on gas hold-up enhancement in aqueous solutions of electrolytes

The effect of addition of electrolytes on gas hold-up of air/water system was investigated experimentally in a laboratory scale bubble column. The experiments were carried out with four electrolytes, namely, NaCl, MgSO₄·7H₂O, Na₂SO₄ and CaCl₂·2H₂O and the concentrations of the solutions were varied from 0 to 0.3 mol/l. Enhancement of gas hold-up was observed for all four electrolytes at concentrations less than 0.1 mol/l. With the increase in concentration, the gas hold-up showed two different trends; in Na₂SO₄ and CaCl₂·2H₂O solutions, gas hold-up formed a sharp peak after the enhancement and leveled off at a value somewhat higher than that in water, whereas in NaCl and MgSO₄·7H₂O solutions, gas hold-up leveled off immediately after the enhancement without forming any peak. Experiments were also conducted to measure the surface tensions of the solutions with special focus in the low concentration region. A strong relation between the gas hold-up enhancement and the change of surface tension with the addition of electrolyte was found. It was also observed that the concentration at which maximum value of C(dσ/dC)² i.e. (concentration × surface tension gradient with respect to concentration²) is obtained corresponds to the concentration at which maximum gas hold-up enhancement occurs.     

Synthesis of poly(ε‐caprolactone)/clay nanocomposites using polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane surfactants as organic modifier and initiator

Poly(ε‐caprolactone)/clay nanocomposites were synthesized by in situ ring‐opening polymerization of ε‐caprolactone in the presence of montmorillonite modified by hydroxyl functionalized, quaternized polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) surfactants. The octa(3‐chloropropyl) polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane was prepared by hydrolytic condensation of 3‐chloropropyltrimethoxysilane, which was subsequently quaternized with 2‐dimethylaminoethanol. Montmorillonite was modified with the quaternized surfactants by cation exchange reaction. Bulk polymerization of ε‐caprolactone was conducted at 110°C using stannous octoate as an initiator/catalyst. Nanocomposites were analyzed by X‐ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, thermo gravimetric analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry. Hydroxyl functionalized POSS was employed as a surface modifier for clay which gives stable clay separation for its 3‐D structure and also facilitates the miscibility of polymer with clay in the nanocomposites due to the star architecture. An improvement in the thermal stability of PCL was observed even at 1 wt % of clay loading. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011     

Effect of surface roughness and surface modification of indium tin oxide electrode on its potential response to tryptophan

The effect of surface modification of indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode on its potential response to tryptophan was investigated for ITO substrates with different surface roughness. It was found that a small difference in surface roughness, between ∼1 and ∼2 nm of R_a evaluated by atomic force microscopy, affects the rest potential of ITO electrode in the electrolyte. A slight difference in In:Sn ratio at the near surface of the ITO substrates, measured by angle-resolved X-ray photoelectron spectrometry and Auger electron spectroscopy is remarkable, and considered to relate with surface roughness. Interestingly, successive modification of the ITO surface with aminopropylsilane and disuccinimidyl suberate, of which essentiality to the potential response to indole compounds we previously reported, improved the stability of the rest potential and enabled the electrodes to respond to tryptophan in case of specimens with R_a values ranging between ∼2 and ∼3 nm but not for those with R_a of ∼1 nm. It was suggested that there are optimum values of effective work function of ITO for specific potential response to tryptophan, which can be obtained by the successive modification of ITO surface.