Improving efficiency for removal of ammoniacal nitrogen from wastewaters using hydrodynamic cavitation

The present study reports significant improvements in the removal of ammoniacal nitrogen from wastewater which is an important problem for many industries such as dyes and pigment, distilleries and fisheries. Pilot plant studies (capacity, 1 m³/h) on synthetic wastewater using 4-amino phenol as model nitrogen containing organic compound and two real industrial effluents of high ammoniacal nitrogen content were carried out using hydrodynamic cavitation. Two reactor geometries were evaluated for increased efficiency in removal-orifice and vortex diode. Effect of initial concentration (100–500 mg/L), effect of pressure drop (0.5–5 bar) and nature of cavitating device (linear and vortex flow for cavitation) were evaluated along with effect of salt content, effect of hydrogen peroxide addition and aeration. Initial concentration was found to have significant impact on the extent of removal: ~ 5 g/m³ removal for initial concentration of 100 mg/L and up to 12 g/m³ removal at high concentration of 500 mg/L. Interestingly, significant improvement of the order of magnitude (up to 8 times) in removal of ammoniacal nitrogen could be obtained by sparging air or oxygen in hydrodynamic cavitation and a very high removal of above 80% could be achieved. The removal of ammoniacal nitrogen by vortex diode was also found to be effective in the industrial wastewaters and results on two different effluent samples of distillery industry indicated up to 75% removal, though with longer time of treatment compared to that of synthetic wastewater. The developed methodology of hydrodynamic cavitation technology with aeration and vortex diode as a cavitating device was found to be highly effective for improving the efficiency of the conventional cavitation methods and hence can be highly useful in industrial wastewater treatment, specifically for the removal of ammoniacal nitrogen.     

Nanosized cation exchanger for the electrophoretic separation and preconcentration of catecholamines and amino acids

The first example of application of nanosized polystyrene-based cation exchanger (NSCE) with sulfo groups as a dynamic coating of capillary walls was demonstrated. The conditions of dynamic coating formation were optimized and ensured the long-term stability of the coating. Capillary-to-capillary and day-to-day repeatabilities were 4% and 3%, correspondingly. The NSCE coating stability at various pH and influence of pH on the EOF mobility were investigated. The developed NSCE-modified coated capillaries provided improved resolution (R_s = 0.9–3.2 for catecholamines and R_s = 1.7–2.8 for amino acids) and efficiencies (330–520 ×10³ t.p./m) of basic analytes, which are 1.5 times higher compared to untreated capillary. The optimized conditions were as follows: 50 mM phosphate buffer solution at pH 2.2 with 5 μM NSCE. The effect of the NSCE concentration in BGE on the electrophoretic mobilities of the analytes was investigated. The various online concentration techniques were tested in order to decrease the LODs. The simultaneous application of NSCE capillaries and field-amplified sample stacking provided the lowest LODs of catecholamines and amino acids and allowed to determine these analytes in human urine.     

Experimental and computational studies of naphthyridine derivatives as corrosion inhibitor for N80 steel in 15% hydrochloric acid

The inhibition effect of three naphthyridine derivatives namely 2-amino-4-(4-methoxyphenyl)-1,8-naphthyridine-3-carbonitrile (ANC-1), 2-amino-4-(4-methylphenyl)-1,8-naphthyridine-3-carbonitrile (ANC-2) and 2-amino-4-(3-nitrophenyl)-1,8-naphthyridine-3-carbonitrile (ANC-3) as corrosion inhibitors for N80 steel in 15% HCl by using gravimetric, electrochemical techniques (EIS and potentiodynamic polarization), SEM, EDX and quantum chemical calculation. The order of inhibition efficiency is ANC-1>ANC-2>ANC-3. Potentiodynamic polarization reveals that these inhibitors are mixed type with predominant cathodic control. Studied inhibitors obey the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The quantum calculation is in good agreement with experimental results.     

复合酶耦合酶解酸处理后玉米秸秆的研究

以玉米秸秆为研究对象,经过2%硫酸预处理后,利用果胶酶、β-葡萄糖苷酶、纤维素酶三种酶协同酶解,以提高玉米秸秆的酶解产糖量。结果表明:当酶解时间为48h,果胶酶、β-葡萄糖苷酶、纤维素酶分别为45U/mL、30U/mL、60U/mL时,葡萄糖、木糖和酶水解得率分别为67.83%、3.25%、73.65%,相比纤维素酶单一酶解的葡萄糖、木糖和酶水解得率分别提高了65.04%、20.82%、65.06%。分步糖化发酵5天后,相比单一酶解发酵乙醇含量提高了72.5%。说明利用三种酶复合处理,能明显提高酶解产糖量。研究结果为玉米秸秆转化为可发酵糖技术的研究提供重要参考。     

氨基酸官能团的太赫兹振动模式研究

对比于氨基酸的红外分析法,太赫兹波的电子能量更低,可实现无损检测。氨基酸分子内原子振动、分子间氢键的作用、以及晶体中晶格的低频振动均处于太赫兹波段,使其在太赫兹波段具有吸收峰,且不同的氨基酸分子太赫兹吸收峰不同,故可用氨基酸在太赫兹波段的这种“指纹特性”实现氨基酸类物质的定性分析。量子化学分析方法可以应用量子力学的基本原理和方法,研究稳定和不稳定分子的结构、性能及其之间的关系,还可以针对分子与分子间的相互作用、相互碰撞及相互反应等问题进行研究。通过量子化学计算方法计算氨基酸分子的太赫兹吸收谱,可以为氨基酸分子的太赫兹吸收峰匹配分子振动模式,对氨基酸定性分析有一定参考性与指向性,并为实验获取的样品太赫兹时域光谱提供理论支撑,在实验获得太赫兹吸收谱的基础上进行量子化学计算,还能为实验结果进行验证。首先利用太赫兹时域光谱技术获取了谷氨酰胺、苏氨酸、组氨酸的太赫兹吸收谱,分别构建这三种氨基酸样品在实物中以两性离子形式存在的单分子构型,利用量子化学计算方法在完成结构优化后进行太赫兹吸收谱模拟计算。计算结果表明三种氨基酸单分子的太赫兹吸收谱计算结果与实验获取的太赫兹吸收谱差异较大,但在高频段吸收峰峰位基本吻合。通过GaussView分别查看了这三种氨基酸分子在太赫兹段内的吸收峰对应频率处的振转情况,发现在高频段内三种氨基酸分子官能团均只发生转动而未见振动,并且转动模式基本一致。通过对氨基酸官能团的太赫兹吸收谱进行量子化学计算,将官能团在高频段内吸收峰对应频率处的振转模式与三种氨基酸分子在该段内吸收峰对应频率处的振转模式做了对比。研究表明,在氨基酸单分子构型下由量子化学方法计算所得的太赫兹吸收谱中,高频段内计算得出的模拟吸收峰与实验获取的太赫兹吸收峰基本吻合;振转模式分析发现,谷氨酰胺、苏氨酸、组氨酸在太赫兹高频段内的氨基酸官能团振转模式相同,三种氨基酸分子在高频段内的吸收峰主要来源于氨基酸官能团。因此,结合量子化学计算与太赫兹吸收谱可以实现氨基酸类物质的定性分析。     

Electron chirality in amino acid molecules

We evaluated the total electron chirality in alanine, serine, and valine, which are molecules that have chiral structures. Previously, computations of the total electron chirality of molecules composed of only light elements are impossible within usual computational conditions of relativistic four-component wave functions. In this work, it is shown that the total electron chirality can be calculated if some diffuse functions are added to Gaussian basis sets. This is demonstrated for the H₂O₂ molecule. By adding diffuse Gaussian functions to basis sets, the total electron chirality of L-alanine, L-serine, and L-valine are evaluated. It is also shown that the total electron chirality is derived by the cancellation between large contributions from each orbital, and the total electron chirality in excited and ionized states is expected to be much larger than that of the ground state.     

Acidity Modification of ZSM-5 for Methane Conversion in Co-feeding Method with MTA Reaction

Acidity plays a vital role in methane conversion by co-feeding method, which is one of the best strategies to improve the utilization and gentle the reaction conditions of methane. In this work, Zn, Ni, Mo, La, Ga, Fe and Co-impregnated ZSM-5 zeolites have been prepared with the same substitutions to variate the acidities and tested in co-aromatization of methanol with methane. It is demonstrated that the new medium-strong acid sites formed by metal and strong acid sites are the key role to activate methane in co-reaction. Zn-modified ZSM-5 catalyst is preferred to exhibit the best methane conversion of 12%, whose aromatic selectivity increases from 27.2% to 52.2% compared with that of HZSM-5. Besides, the addition of methane further improves the production of high-valued aromatics compared with methanol to aromatics (MTA) reaction.     

Experimental strategy of the spectrophotometric approach using freeze-drying for PO43− determination in frozen and chilled chickens in the Saudi Arabia market

Herein, an efficient analytical method based on an extraction protocol was developed and validated for the spectrophotometric detection of phosphate (PO₄^3?) in chilled and frozen chicken samples. The preparation was a very simple sample that included freeze-drying, extraction with acidified amino acids and filtration of the final extract prior to spectrophotometric analysis. FT-IR spectrum of CS1 was confirmed that the selected solvent has successfully extracted PO₄^3? from the chilled chicken sample. Analytical performances were assessed in chilled of one of the merchant species and showed good recoveries with relative standard deviations (RSD) below 2%. The analytical validation parameters of the method in terms of limit of quantification (LOQ) and detection (LOD) were calculated and found to be 0.10 and 0.032 mg/L, respectively. This protocol has been effectively applied to PO₄^3? determination in chicken samples collected from Saudi supermarkets (Northern KSA), and PO₄^3? in all frozen samples was detected at high mg/kg levels ranging from 2.11 × 10⁴ to 2.90 × 10⁴ mg/kg, while in limit levels of PO₄^3? concentration were detected in the chilled samples except chilled sample 1 (CS1), which was 2.22 × 10⁴ mg/kg. The extraction and determination protocol suggested that this developed method could be validated for routine monitoring of PO₄^3? in food quality control laboratories and safety monitoring.     

Solvent-Free Heterogeneous Catalytic Hydrogenation of Polyesters to Diols

The utilization of carbon resources stored in plastic polymers through chemical recycling and upcycling is a promising approach for mitigating plastic waste. However, most current methods for upcycling suffer from limited selectivity towards a specific valuable product, particularly when attempting full conversion of the plastic. We present a highly selective reaction route for transforming polylactic acid (PLA) into 1,2-propanediol utilizing a Zn-modified Cu catalyst. This reaction exhibits excellent reactivity (0.65 g g_cat⁻¹ h⁻¹) and selectivity (99.5 %) towards 1,2-propanediol, and most importantly, can be performed in a solvent-free mode. Significantly, the overall solvent-free reaction is an atom-economical reaction with all the atoms in reactants (PLA and H₂) fixed into the final product (1,2-propanediol), eliminating the need for a separation process. This method provides an innovative and economically viable solution for upgrading polyesters to produce high-purity products under mild conditions with optimal atom utilization.     

A Chemical Proteomic Strategy Reveals Inhibitors of Lipoate Salvage in Bacteria and Parasites

The development of novel anti-infectives requires unprecedented strategies targeting pathways which are solely present in pathogens but absent in humans. Following this principle, we developed inhibitors of lipoic acid ( LA ) salvage, a crucial pathway for the survival of LA auxotrophic bacteria and parasites but non-essential in human cells. An LA -based probe was selectively transferred onto substrate proteins via lipoate protein ligase (LPL) in intact cells, and their binding sites were determined by mass spectrometry. Probe labeling served as a proxy of LPL activity, enabling in situ screenings for cell-permeable LPL inhibitors. Profiling a focused compound library revealed two substrate analogs ( LAMe and C3 ) as inhibitors, which were further validated by binding studies and co-crystallography. Importantly, LAMe exhibited low toxicity in human cells and achieved killing of Plasmodium falciparum in erythrocytes with an EC₅₀ value of 15 μM, making it the most effective LPL inhibitor reported to date.