Adsorptive Behavior of Methylene Blue onto Sawdust of Sour Lemon,Date Palm,and Eucalyptus as Agricultural Wastes

In the present study, to remove methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solution, some agricultural residues and cheap bioadsorbents such as sawdust of palm trees, eucalyptus, and sour lemon were used. To do this, significant parameters like contact time, temperature, pH, initial concentration, and adsorbent dosage were checked. The results affirmed that the best conditions for MB adsorption from aqueous solution were obtained such as the temperature of 25?°C, pH of 8, adsorbent dosage of 2g/L, contact time of 120?minutes, and dye concentration of 5?mg/l which under these conditions the adsorption efficiencies determined were 95.8, 93.4, and 92.8% using sawdust of palm tree, eucalyptus, and sour lemon, respectively. Also, the equilibrium behavior of adsorbents showed that the Freundlich model could better predict the adsorption behavior of the process due to having a larger correlation coefficient (R²). The maximum biosorption capacities by Langmuir isotherm model were also obtained 54, 53.5, and 52.4?mg/g for sawdust of palm trees, eucalyptus, and lemon, respectively, which were significant amounts. In addition, kinetic behavior of adsorption showed that pseudo-second-order model can describe the kinetics of the adsorption process better than the pseudo-first-order model. Moreover, kinetic, equilibrium, and thermodynamic behaviors of adsorption affirmed that the biosorption process was desirable, physisorption, spontaneous, and exothermic.     

Selective Acetylation of Alcohols and Amines with Ethyl Acetate in the Presence of H<Subscript>6</Subscript>[PMo<Subscript>9</Subscript>V<Subscript>3</Subscript>O<Subscript>40</Subscript>] as the Catalyst

Summary. Acetylation of various alcohols and benzyl amine was tested in the presence of H₆[PMo₉V₃O₄₀], a mixed addenda heteropolyacid, in ethyl acetate under reflux condition. Phenols and anilines are not affected under the reaction conditions. Selective transestrification of alcohols can be achieved in the presence of phenol and aniline derivatives using this method.     

Vieta–Fibonacci wavelets: Application in solving fractional pantograph equations

In this paper, the Vieta–Fibonacci wavelets as a new family of orthonormal wavelets are generated. An operational matrix concerning fractional integration of these wavelets is extracted. A numerical scheme is established based on these wavelets and their fractional integral matrix together with the collocation technique to solve fractional pantograph equations. The presented method reduces solving the problem under study into solving a system of algebraic equations. Several examples are provided to show the accuracy of the method.     

On solvability of differential equations with the Riesz fractional derivative

We consider the solvability of fractional differential equations involving the Riesz fractional derivative. Our approach basically relies on the reduction of the problem considered to the equivalent nonlinear mixed Volterra and Cauchy-type singular integral equation and on the theory of fractional calculus. By establishing a compactness property of the Riemann–Liouville fractional integral operator on Lebesgue spaces and using the well-known Krasnoselskii's fixed point theorem, an existence of at least one solution is gleaned. An example is finally included to show the applicability of the theory.     

On position-space renormalization group approach to percolation

In a position-space renormalization group (PSRG) approach to percolation one calculates the probabilityR(p,b) that a finite lattice of linear sizeb percolates, wherep is the occupation probability of a site or bond. A sequence of percolation thresholdsp _c (b) is then estimated fromR(p _c ,b)=p _c (b) and extrapolated to the limitb to obtainp _c =p _c (). Recently, it was shown that for a certain spanning rule and boundary condition,R(p _c ,)=R _c is universal, and sincep _c is not universal, the validity of PSRG approaches was questioned. We suggest that the equationR(p _c ,b)=, where isany number in (0,1), provides a sequence ofp _c (b)'s thatalways converges top _c asb. Thus, there is anenvelope from any point inside of which one can converge top _c . However, the convergence is optimal if =R _c . By calculating the fractal dimension of the sample-spanning cluster atp _c , we show that the same is true aboutany critical exponent of percolation that is calculated by a PSRG method. Thus PSRG methods are still a useful tool for investigating percolation properties of disordered systems.     

Wet carbon-based solid acid/NaNO_3 as a mild and efficient reagent for nitration of aromatic compound under solvent free conditions

Nitro aromatic compound can be obtained in high yields via nitration of aromatic compound with wet carbon-based solid acid and NaNO_3 under solvent free oxidation at room temperature.     

Solid phase extraction of gold by sorption on octadecyl silica membrane disks modified with pentathia-15-crown-5 and determination by AAS

A simple and selective method for rapid and efficient concentration and determination of μg l⁻¹ levels of Au(III) ions in aqueous solution using octadecyl silica membrane disks modified by pentathia-15-crown-5 and flame atomic absorption spectrometry is presented. The influence of flow rates of eluent and sample solution, amount of ligand, types and least amount of eluent for elution of Au from disks were investigated. Break through volume and limit of detection of the membrane disks modified by 5 mg of the thiacrown ether was found to be 2.0 l and 1.0 μg l⁻¹, respectively. The effects of various cationic interferences on percent recovery of gold were studied. The method was successfully applied for the determinations of gold in some pharmaceutical samples and for the recovery of trace Au³⁺ ions from synthetic and water samples.     

Solvent extraction of mercury using Alamine 304

Summary A study has been undertaken to develop a solvent extraction system for mercury using Alamine 304 in aqueous chloride medium. The parameters investigated included reagent concentration, acid concentration, pH, aqueous to organic phase ratio, and rate of extraction and stripping. The study shows that mercury can be extracted rapidly and efficiently from aqueous chloride solutions. A number of aqueous stripping reagents removed more than 90% of the mercury from the organic phase with only one equilibrium. These include HNO₃, NaOH and EDTA.

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Extraktion von Quecksilber mit Alamin 304

Zusammenfassung Die Extraktion von Quecksilber aus der wäßrigen Lösung des Chlorids mit Alamin 304 wurde untersucht. Die Konzentration des Reagens, der Säure, das pH, das Verhältnis der wäßrigen zur organischen Phase sowie das Extraktionsverhältnis wurden geprüft. Die Extraktion verläuft rasch und wirkungsvoll. Eine Reihe wäßriger Reagenzien entzieht mehr als 90% des Quecksilbers aus der organischen Phase. Dazu gehören Salpetersäure, Natronlauge und EDTA.

     

Zein film as a novel natural biopolymer membrane in electrochemical detections

Permselective modifier films are very important in preparing highly sensitive electrochemical sensors. In this work, for the first time, the behavior of gold and glassy carbon electrodes coated with biocompatible zein film as a permselective membrane for the electrochemical detection of various compounds has been investigated. For this purpose, several electroactive cationic (methylene blue, brilliant green, and thionine) and anionic (potassium ferricyanide, alizarin red S, and riboflavin-5’-phosphate) compounds have been used as model. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that zein membranes prepared from casting solution containing 1% zein in ethanol/water have porous structures with high nanometric roughness. The capacitance values of electrical double layers of electrodes modified with zein film were very high for hydrophilic ions in comparison with hydrophobic ions. Point of zero charge pH (pH_pzc) of zein membrane was 4.8. The results of cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) as well as pH_pzc study indicated that zein permselective membrane acts as ion exchanger film for selected cationic compounds with fast electrochemical kinetics responses in aqueous solution (pH=7). This behavior was confirmed by circulating solutions containing model compounds from homemade continuous cell equipped with polyamide membranes modified with zein film.

Graphical Abstract

     

The role of charge distribution on the antimalarial activity of artemisinin analogues

In this work the calculated nuclear quadrupole coupling constants (NQCC; chi) of 17O in artemisinin and some of its derivatives and the effects of charge density due to the nature of ligands on NQCC of 17O were investigated. All calculations were performed at the HF/3-21G level using the Gaussian 98 program. The results show that the O-O linkage has a characteristic role in the antimalarial activity of artemisinin. In addition, various substitutions on C4 change the charge density on these oxygens and consequently change the pharmaceutical effect of artemisinin. Our results suggest that due to a larger charge density on O1, the heme iron approaches the endoperoxide moiety at the O1 position with preference to the O2 position.