Hydrophobic flocculation of talc with kerosene and effects of anionic surfactants

ABSTRACT

The variation of the hydrophobic flocculation behavior of talc mineral with pH, kerosene concentration, stirring speed, flocculation, and settling times was investigated. The experimental studies showed that the flocculation of talc suspension increased to a particular point with increasing kerosene concentration and thereafter decreased slightly. Also, the flocculation with kerosene was not much affected by the pH changes of the suspension. On the other hand, sodium oleate, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), and Aero 801 used as anionic surfactant in conjunction with kerosene provided significant increases in the flocculation of talc, and depends on increasing surface hydrophobicity of the particles. Especially, in the presence of sodium oleate along with kerosene, the talc suspension could be flocculated with a recovery of 95%. Consequently, the enhancement with nonpolar oil was more significant for the hydrophobic flocculation of talc suspension promoted by long hydrocarbon chain surfactant (sodium oleate) than short hydrocarbon chain surfactants (SDS and Aero 801).     

Development of microencapsulated grape juice powders using black ‘Isabel’ grape peel pectin and application in jelly formulation with enhanced in vitro bioaccessibility of anthocyanins

In this study, pigmented pectin (grape pectin, GP) was extracted from the peels of black Isabel grapes. This highly methoxylated GP was composed mainly of galacturonic acid, arabinose, and other neutral monosaccharides. Its red color was ascribed to the anthocyanin content, and the main contribution was from malvidin-3-O-glucoside. To improve the yield and color properties of spray-dried Isabel grape juice powders, maltodextrin (MD) was substituted with this colored GP. When 25% of MD was substituted with GP, the powder yield increased from 46.0% to 60.4%, but it decreased to 21% when the substitution was 40%. GP inclusion increased the encapsulation efficiency of total anthocyanin in powders from 55.70% to 88.66%. When this spray-dried grape juice powder containing GP was utilized in a jelly recipe (4%–10%), a higher level of inclusion yielded stronger and more brittle jellies. When the jellies containing varying amounts of GP were subjected to in vitro digestion, the formulation with a higher amount of GP yielded a higher recovery of anthocyanins. In addition to being utilized as a carrier agent for spray-drying applications, this pigmented GP can also be tailored for a variety of applications, such as the development of pH-sensitive edible films and functional beverage formulations.     

Intertwined Nanocarbon and Manganese Oxide Hybrid Foam for High‐Energy Supercapacitors

Rapid charging and discharging supercapacitors are promising alternative energy storage systems for applications such as portable electronics and electric vehicles. Integration of pseudocapacitive metal oxides with single‐structured materials has received a lot of attention recently due to their superior electrochemical performance. In order to realize high energy‐density supercapacitors, a simple and scalable method is developed to fabricate a graphene/MWNT/MnO₂ nanowire (GMM) hybrid nanostructured foam, via a two‐step process. The 3D few‐layer graphene/MWNT (GM) architecture is grown on foamed metal foils (nickel foam) via ambient pressure chemical vapor deposition. Hydrothermally synthesized α‐MnO₂ nanowires are conformally coated onto the GM foam by a simple bath deposition. The as‐prepared hierarchical GMM foam yields a monographical graphene foam conformally covered with an intertwined, densely packed CNT/MnO₂ nanowire nanocomposite network. Symmetrical electrochemical capacitors (ECs) based on GMM foam electrodes show an extended operational voltage window of 1.6 V in aqueous electrolyte. A superior energy density of 391.7 Wh kg^?1 is obtained for the supercapacitor based on the GMM foam, which is much higher than ECs based on GM foam only (39.72 Wh kg^?1). A high specific capacitance (1108.79 F g^?1) and power density (799.84 kW kg^?1) are also achieved. Moreover, the great capacitance retention (97.94%) after 13 000 charge–discharge cycles and high current handability demonstrate the high stability of the electrodes of the supercapacitor. These excellent performances enable the innovative 3D hierarchical GMM foam to serve as EC electrodes, resulting in energy‐storage devices with high stability and power density in neutral aqueous electrolyte.     

Effect of root canal sealers on the push-out bond strengths of tooth-colored posts to root dentine

Objectives: This study evaluated the effect of different root canal sealers on the push-out bond strength of tooth-colored posts to root dentin. Material and methods: Eighty human mandibular premolar teeth with single roots were decoronated and randomly divided into two groups according to post material: G1–G5: Cytec blanco; G6–G10: Cosmopost. In each group, the specimens were further subgrouped according to the filling material plus sealer (n = 8): G1, G6: Gutta-percha + AH Plus; G2, G7: Resilon + Epiphany SE; G3, G8: Gutta-percha + Sealite; G4, G9: Gutta-percha + iRoot SP; and G5, G10: control (unobturated). Cytec blanco and Cosmopost of 1.4 mm diameter were adhesively luted to samples using Variolink II. Push-out test was performed in a universal testing machine, and failure modes were examined under stereomicroscope. Data were analyzed with the two-way ANOVA and post hoc Tukey’s tests. Statistical significance was set to 0.05. Results: Roots obturated with AH Plus (3.48 ± 1.41 MPa), Sealite (3.47 ± 0.65 MPa), and Resilon (3.36 ± 1.23 MPa) had the lowest bond strength (p < 0.005). iRoot SP and control group samples showed the highest bond strength values (7.38 ± 0.89 MPa and 6.43 ± 1.16 MPa, respectively) (p < 0.05). Significant differences were observed among tooth-colored posts and sealers (p < 0.05). Adhesive failures were predominant in all groups (48%). Conclusions: When the resin cement Variolink II was used, the types of root canal filling materials and sealers could affect the retentions of the fiber/zirconium posts; the fiber post revealed the higher bond values than the zirconium post; and the calcium silicate-based sealer (iRoot SP) revealed the highest bond strengths.     

Synthesis and reactive features of a terpolymer: Poly(N‐vinyl‐2‐pyrrolidone‐co‐vinyl acetate‐co‐glycidyl methacrylate)

A polyvinyl pyrrolidone terpolymer system is described that can be chemically cross‐linked at moderate, 70–100°C, temperatures. The system has significant potential for development of durable long‐lasting pyrrolidone coatings in a wide range of applications, particularly in water filtration membrane construction where leaching is an unresolved, serious problem. The synthesis of the terpolymer, poly(N‐vinyl‐2‐pyrrolidone‐co‐vinyl acetate‐co‐glycidyl methacrylate), by free radical polymerization is described. The reactive features of this terpolymer are presented in the context of acidic anhydride curing. In a polar aprotic solvent, the terpolymer is reacted with poly(methyl vinyl ether‐co‐maleic acid) and cured thermally. Key aspects of the terpolymer synthesis and the acid anhydride cross‐linking reaction using DSC, rheology, FTIR, and a small molecule model system to study the cross‐linking chemistry are presented. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013     

Exergy analysis of a solar assisted absorption cooling system on an hourly basis in villa applications

A solar assisted absorption refrigeration system (SAARS) was designed for acclimatizing of villas in Mardin which is located in Turkey and the performance of the system under different temperatures was analyzed by using MATLAB. Hourly cooling load calculation of the villas was done between 15th of May and 15th of September by considering the season for the cooling. Cooling capacity of the system (SAARS) was calculated as 106 kW. During the cooling period, the temperature of the environment shows the alteration between 40.3 °C and 13.2 °C. In the study, hourly exergy loss values are calculated with the software developed in matlab program and for the entire components of SAARS. The effect of the temperature alterations of the dead state on the exergy results is determined by taking dead state temperature as 25 °C and with more realistic approach, by taking it as the environment temperature. It was observed that the most of the exergy losses in the system have taken place in the solar collectors and then in the generator. Exergy loss in the collector changes between 10% and 70% while exergy loss in the generator changes between 5% and 8%. The effects of environmental temperature and solar insolation were stated for optimization.     

Copper(II) and zinc(II) biosorption on Pinus sylvestris L

The biosorption properties of copper(II) and zinc(II) onto a cone biomass of Pinus sylvestris L. was investigated by using batch techniques. The biosorption studies carried out with single metal solutions. The removal of copper(II) and zinc(II) from aqueous solution increased with pH and sharply decreased when pH of the solution was decreased. The maximum biosorption efficiency of P. sylvestris was 67% and 30% for Cu(II) and Zn(II), respectively. Batch kinetic and isotherm of biosorption metal ions were investigated. The second-order kinetic model was used to correlate the experimental data. The Freundlich and Langmuir model can describe the adsorption equilibrium of metal(II) on cone biomass. The biosorption constants were found from the Freundlich and Langmuir isotherms at 25 degrees C. It is found that the biosorption data of metals on cone biomass fitted both the Freundlich and Langmuir adsorption models.     

Influence of reducing conditions on metallic elements released from various contaminated soil samples

The redox conditions of soil may have significant consequences for the mobility of metallic elements (ME), but unlike pH, very few studies have investigated this parameter. A procedure was established to study the solubilization of ME from soil samples in various reducing conditions using a batch method and sodium ascorbate solutions. The change in redox potential from +410 to +10 mV was studied from four contaminated soil samples (designated A-D) of different origins and compositions. The results showed that ME mobilization greatly increased with decreasing redox potential within a limited and very sensitive range. Depending on the soil sample studied, various sensitive ranges of potentials were obtained (A, 220-345 mV; B, 280-365 mV; C, 260-360 mV; and D, 240-380 mV), and the induced percentages of ME mobilization varied (i.e., maximal values for Zn: A, 45%; B, 59%; C, 53%; and D, 58%). The results could be explained by the combined effect of potential and pH decrease on ME-carrying phases; in particular, Fe and Mn (oxy)hydroxides.     

Electrical characterization of composition modulated In(1-x)Sb(x) nanowire field effect transistors by scanning gate microscopy

In this work high quality crystalline In(1_x)Sb(x) nanowires (NWs) are synthesized via a template-based electrochemistry method. Energy dispersive spectroscopy studies show that composition modulated In(1-x)Sb(x) (x approximately 0.5 or 0.7) nanowires can be attained by selectively controlling the deposition potential during growth. Single In(1-x)Sb(x) nanowire field effect transistors (NW-FETs) are fabricated to study the electrical properties of as-grown NWs. Using scanning gate microscopy (SGM) as a local gate the I(ds)-V(ds) characteristics of the fabricated devices are modulated as a function of the applied gate voltage. Electrical transport measurements show n-type semiconducting behavior for the In0.5Sb0.5 NW-FET, while a p-type behavior is observed for the In0.3Sb0.7 NW-FET device. The ability to grow composition modulated In(1-x)Sb(x) NWs can provide new opportunities for utilizing InSb NWs as building blocks for low-power and high speed nanoscale electronics.