CO2/H2 separation by facilitated transport membranes immobilized with aqueous single and mixed amine solutions: Experimental and modeling study

An experimental and theoretical analysis to separate CO₂ using facilitated transport membranes immobilized with different aqueous single and mixed amine solutions have been performed. The membranes containing monoethanolamine (MEA), diethanolamine (DEA), monoprotonated ethylenediamine (EDAH⁺) and piperazine (PZ), as well as aqueous blends of PZ with MEA, DEA or EDAH⁺ were considered. The aqueous solution of PZ showed the highest CO₂ permeation rate with respect to other single amine solutions. Therefore blends of PZ with MEA, DEA and EDAH⁺ increased the permeance of carbon dioxide through mixed amine membranes.     

Molecular junction of n-thiophenes sandwiched between two Au (111) electrodes

In this work, the electron-transport properties of the molecular junction of oligothiophenes sandwiched between two Au (111) electrodes are studied based on the combination of the density functional theory and non-equilibrium Green’s function (NEGF) approach. From the calculation of electron properties, it is revealed that by increasing the number of thiophenes rings the (highest occupied molecular orbital-lowest unlocked molecular orbital) gap and the total energy decreases. Also, the transmission coefficient at zero voltage and the current–voltage curve for the thiophene molecules is calculated. The results indicate that the electrical conductivity and the value of band gap decrease exponentially with increasing the length of the molecules. Moreover, by simulating this molecular wire, we were able to obtain a current in the range of micro-amperes, which is a good current in the electronic application. However, it is known that the linear-response conductance is overestimated about an order of magnitude or more by the NEGF?+?DFT approach when semi-local approximate functional like PBE is used.     

Investigation of photocatalytic chlorpyrifos degradation by a new silica mesoporous material immobilized by WS2 and Fe3O4 nanoparticles: Application of response surface methodology

In the present research, Fe₃O₄ and WS₂ nanoparticles immobilized on or in KIT-6 (KIT: Korea Institute of Science and Technology) pores (KIT-6/WS₂-Fe₃O₄) were synthesized and studied as a photocatalyst for degradation of representative chlorpyrifos as an organophosphorus pesticide. In addition, the KIT-6/WS₂-Fe₃O₄ photocatalyst was characterized by different methods such as TEM, FESEM-EDS-Mapping, XRD, and N₂ adsorption/desorption surface area, in order to understand their morphology, structural, and physical properties. The photocatalytic performance of this photocatalyst was investigated for degradation of chlorpyrifos by visible light irritation. The effects of variables such as chlorpyrifos concentration, KIT-6/WS₂-Fe₃O₄ nanocatalyst amount, pH, and irradiation time on chlorpyrifos degradation efficiency was studied by central composite design with response surface methodology. The optimum conditions for CP degradation were obtained by 50 mg KIT-6/WS₂-Fe₃O₄ nanocatalyst, and 7.2 ppm chlorpyrifos solution with pH = 6, at 52 min. The pseudo-first-order model with rate constants equal to 0.069 min⁻¹ as best choice efficiency described the chlorpyrifos degradation process according to Langmuir-Hinshelwood kinetic.     

Na<Subscript>2</Subscript>EDTA: an efficient,green and reusable catalyst for the synthesis of biologically important spirooxindoles,spiroacenaphthylenes and spiro-2-amino-4<Emphasis Type="Italic">H</Emphasis>-pyrans under solvent-free conditions

For the first time, the organic salt Na₂EDTA was used as a catalyst for an effective and facile preparation of spiro-4H-pyrans via single-pot three-component condensation of isatin/acenaphthoquinone/ninhydrin, malononitrile, and CH-acids through Knoevenagel–Michael–annulation sequence. This new protocol employing Na₂EDTA, which is a green, recyclable, and inexpensive catalyst, offers advantages such as solvent-free and highly efficient reaction conditions, short reaction times (10–15 min), easy work-up and high yields which make it more economic than other environmentally synthetic methods.     

Extraction and preconcentration of hemin from human blood serum and breast cancer supernatant

A green, facile, fast, and sensitive liquid‐phase microextraction method is presented for the extraction and preconcentration of hemin in the presence of free iron ions prior to flame atomic absorption spectroscopic determination. In this technique, an anion‐functionalized task‐specific ionic liquid is used as the extracting solvent. The interface between the extracting solvent and the bulk aqueous phase containing hemin is enormously enlarged by dispersing the ionic liquid to the aqueous phase with the help of ultrasound radiation. Hemin is selectively extracted into the ionic liquid after interaction with the functional group of the ionic liquid. Then, the concentration of the extracted hemin is determined through the absorbance of the iron ions contained in the hemin structure using flame atomic absorption spectroscopy. Different experimental parameters affecting the extraction efficiency have been optimized. Under the optimized conditions, the proposed method has a hemin concentration linear range of 0.020–0.80 mg/L with a detection limit of 0.0080 mg/L. This method has been successfully applied to the extraction and determination of hemin in human serum and supernatant samples.     

Correlation between iodide dosimetry and terephthalic acid dosimetry to evaluate the reactive radical production due to the acoustic cavitation activity

Acoustic cavitation plays an important role in sonochemical processes and the rate of sonochemical reaction is influenced by sonication parameters. There are several methods to evaluate cavitation activity such as chemical dosimetry. In this study, to comparison between iodide dosimetry and terephthalic acid dosimetry, efficacy of sonication parameters in reactive radical production has been considered by iodide and terephthalic acid dosimetries. For this purpose, efficacy of different exposure parameters on cavitations production by 1 MHz ultrasound has been studied. The absorbance of KI dosimeter was measured by spectrophotometer and the fluorescence of terephthalic acid dosimeter was measured using spectrofluorometer after sonication. The result of experiments related to sonication time and intensity showed that with increasing time of sonication or intensity, the absorbance is increased. It has been shown that the absorbance for continuous mode is remarkably higher than for pulsing mode (p-value < 0.05). Also results show that with increasing the duty cycles of pulsed field, the inertial cavitation activity is increased. With compensation of sonication time or intensity in different duty cycles, no significant absorbance difference were observed unless 20% duty cycle. A significant correlation between the absorbance and fluorescence intensities (count) at different intensity (R = 0.971), different sonication time (R = 0.999) and different duty cycle (R = 0.967) were observed (p-value < 0.05). It is concluded that the sonication parameters having important influences on reactive radical production. These results suggest that there is a correlation between iodide dosimetry and terephthalic acid dosimetry to examine the acoustic cavitation activity in ultrasound field.