Synthesis,Thermal and Morphological Properties of Polyurethanes Containing Azomethine Linkage

This paper presents synthesis, photophysical, electrochemical, thermal and morphological properties of Schiff bases containing various side-group substitutions and polyurethanes (PUs) containing azomethine linkage. Morphological properties of PUs containing azomethine bonding were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). SEM images showed that PU containing azomethine consist of semi-crystalline particles. Thermal transitions in PUs containing azomethine units were studied using DSC. The obtained DSC curves showed that PUs containing azomethine are semi-crystalline materials due to they contain both crystallization and melting peaks. Electrochemical properties also investigated by using cyclic voltammetry (CV). According to the cyclic voltommagrams and CV data, PUs containing azomethine have below 2.0 eV electrochemical band gap.     

The use of basalt powder as a natural heterogeneous catalyst in the Fenton and Photo-Fenton oxidation of cationic dyes

The use of naturally present heterogeneous catalysts has recently been an essential issue in the Fenton and photo-Fenton processes. In this study, the uses of basalt as a catalyst for the Fenton and photo-Fenton reactions for methylene Blue (MB) and Basic Red 18 (BR18) degradations were investigated. Basalt was selected because of the presence of the iron (III) oxide in the structure. Basalt was characterized by X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis to obtain the chemical composition and the crystalline phase. The surface charge and the surface area were obtained by zeta potential and Brunauer Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) were utilized to explore the functional group and the surface morphology. Fenton and photo-Fenton processes were applied to explore the best degradation method. Adsorption was also tested and the adsorption process had minimum removal efficiency (12% for MB and 17% for BR18). The removal efficiencies for MB and BR18 by the Fenton process were 87% and 28%, respectively. The photo-Fenton process had maximum removal efficiency with 100% for MB and 70% for BR18. The optimum conditions were 70 mg/L dye concentration, 5 mM H₂O₂, 1.0 g/L basalt loading and pH 2. Basalt has shown reuse capability as a catalyst for three consecutive cycles.     

Innovative hydrogen release from sodium borohydride hydrolysis using biocatalyst-like Fe2O3 nanoparticles impregnated on Bacillus simplex bacteria

For the first time in this innovative study, microorganisms such as Bacillus simplex bacteria, mostly used in biological activity studies, are used as a bio-supporter agent of iron to release hydrogen from sodium borohydride hydrolysis at 25.0 ± 0.1 °C. The goal is to investigate thoroughly sodium borohydride hydrolysis catalyzed by Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles impregnated on microorganism such as Bacillus simplex (BS) bacteria (Fe₂O₃@BS NPs) known with strong antibacterial properties, which makes innovative them a candidate for hydrolysis reaction. This study was focused on the preparation, identification, and catalytic use of biocatalyst-like Fe₂O₃@BS NPs for hydrogen release from the sodium borohydride hydrolysis at 25.0 ± 0.1 °C. The characterization results made after and before hydrolysis reaction using by SEM/SEM-EDX, FT-IR, XRD, UV–vis, XPS, DLS, ELS Zeta potential, ESR, and TEM techniques reveal the formation of highly active, stable, durable, and long-lived biocatalysts-like Fe₂O₃@BS NPs.     

Synthesis and characterizations of poly(ether)/poly(phenol)s including azomethine coupled benzothiazole side chains: the effect of reaction conditions on the structure,optical, electrochemical,electrical and thermal properties

A new Schiff base, 4-((6-ethoxybenzothiazole-2-ylimino)methyl)benzene-1,2-diol (3,4-HBAEBT) was synthesized by the condensation reaction of 3,4-dihydroxybenzaldehyde (3,4-HBA) and 2-amino-6-ethoxybenzothiazole. The Schiff base, then, was converted to its polymer derivatives by oxidative polycondensation reaction in both organic (P-1) and aqueous alkaline medium (P-2). Spectral observations indicated different structural properties for each polymerization condition. Organic and aqueous alkaline medium produced poly(ether) and poly(phenol) structures, respectively. The obtained polymers were separately studied with respect to optical, electrochemical, electrical and thermal properties. With exception of thermal degradation behaviors, the other investigated properties as well as morphological characteristics of both polymers were considerably different. In the fluorescence measurements a solvatochromic effect was recorded and the emission colors of the polymers could be changed as turquoise-green by solvent change.     

Expanding the Dynamic Modeling of Water-Food-Energy Nexus to Include Environmental,Economic, and Social Aspects Based on Life Cycle Assessment Thinking

The concept of the water-food-energy nexus has been widely studied in the past decade. In this paper we expand on this concept to include environmental, economic, and social aspects as well as life cycle assessment based thinking. We proposed a set of Environmental Footprint Assessment, Life Cycle Assessment, and Socio-Economic Assessment indicators and calculated them using a developed System Dynamic Model for Water-Land-Food-Energy-Environment-Economic-Social Nexus (SD-WLF3ESN). The developed model was applied to predict the WLF3ESN of the corn crop in the Western Lake Erie Basin (WLEB)-USA for the period 2016-2030. The prediction was based on scenarios for population, land, yield, crop use, and crop production costs and returns at the county level of WLEB. A matrix for WLF3ESN of the corn crop in WLEB was developed. This matrix can help in developing policies and strategies for managing the nexus in the basin.

     

National geodatabase of tidal stream power resource in USA

A geodatabase of tidal constituents is developed to present the regional assessment of tidal stream power resource in the USA. Tidal currents are numerically modeled with the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) and calibrated with the available measurements of tidal current speeds and water level surfaces. The performance of the numerical model in predicting the tidal currents and water levels is assessed by an independent validation. The geodatabase is published on a public domain via a spatial database engine with interactive tools to select, query and download the data. Regions with the maximum average kinetic power density exceeding 500 W/m² (corresponding to a current speed of ～1 m/s), total surface area larger than 0.5 km² and depth greater than 5 m are defined as hotspots and documented. The regional assessment indicates that the state of Alaska (AK) has the largest number of locations with considerably high kinetic power density, followed by, Maine (ME), Washington (WA), Oregon (OR), California (CA), New Hampshire (NH), Massachusetts (MA), New York (NY), New Jersey (NJ), North and South Carolina (NC, SC), Georgia (GA), and Florida (FL).