High-capacity composite adsorbents for nucleic acids

Cytopore™ is a bead-shaped, macroporous and easily compressible cellulose-based anion-exchange material intended for cultivation of anchor-dependent animal cells. Reticulated vitreous carbon (RVC) is a strong, non-compressible, high voidage (97%) matrix material that can be cut to desired geometrical shapes. Cytopore and RVC were combined to cylindrical composites (25 mm × 10 mm) fitted inside chromatography columns. The composite combined the advantageous properties of both its constituents, making it suitable for column chromatography. The composite could withstand very high flow rates without compaction of the bed (>25 column volumes/min; 4000 cm h⁻¹). Chromatography runs with tracers showed a low HETP value (0.3 mm), suggesting that pore flow was in operation. The dynamic binding capacities (10% breakthrough) per gram of dry weight Cytopore were determined for several compounds including DNA and RNA and were found to be 240–370 mg/g. The composite was used to isolate pUC 18-type plasmids from a cleared alkaline lysate in a good yield. Confocal microscopy studies showed that plasmids were bound not only to the surface of the Cytopore material but also within the matrix walls, thus offering an explanation to the very high binding capacities observed. The concept of using a composite prepared from a mechanically weak, high-binding material and a strong scaffold material may be applied to other systems as well.     

Preparation of magnetic composite adsorbents from laterite nickel ore for organic amine removal

Magnetic composite adsorbent (MCA) was prepared successfully using laterite nickel ore. The effectiveness of MCA as an adsorbent was evaluated for removal trimethylamine from aqueous environment. In this technological route, the utilization of solid wastes, wastewater treatment and adsorbent recovery were considered comprehensively. The MCA was characterized by techniques, including XRD, SEM, TEM, EDS, VSM and adsorption-desorption of nitrogen at 77 K. The adsorption processes were best described by pseudo-second-order kinetic model and controlled by intraparticle and surface diffusion processes. Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models were used to match the adsorption equilibrium data. Freundlich isotherm was the best fitting curve for the sorption equilibrium data. The adsorption mechanism was further interpreted by Gibbs free energy, entropy and enthalpy calculated by thermodynamic equation. The negative values of Gibbs free energy changes (ΔG) manifest that the adsorbing process is spontaneous. The results show that laterite nickel ore can be made into MCA for organic amine removal from polluted water.     

Crown ether-type organic composite adsorbents embedded in high-porous silica beads for simultaneous recovery of lithium and uranium in seawater

The syntheses of crown ether-type organic composite adsorbents embedded in high-porous silica beads for simultaneous recovery of lithium and uranium in seawater have been achieved and the adsorption behavior of lithium and uranium on the composite adsorbents has been examined in several types of original seawater in the wide temperature and pH ranges. As a result, the composite adsorbents composed of benzo-15-crown-5 (BC15) and benzo-18-crown-6 (BC18) showed the top-class maximum adsorption capacities for lithium [6.5 mg/g (BC15), 11 mg/g (BC18)] and uranium [12 mg/g (BC15), 4.2 mg/g (BC18)].

     

Characterization of phenyl-type HPLC adsorbents

A set of different phenyl-modified HPLC adsorbents were characterized in terms of their surface area, pore volume, and bonded phase volume using low temperature nitrogen adsorption (LTNA). Adsorbents pore volume and interparticle volume were also measured using HPLC. Comparison of the pore volumes assessed with LTNA and HPLC suggests a compact molecular arrangement for all bonded phases studied. Simple and effective method for determination of the exact mass of adsorbent and total surface area in the column is suggested.     

Ordered mesoporous materials as adsorbents

Environmental pollution, energy consumption and biotechnology have induced more and more public concerns. Problems imposed by these issues will circulate in the 21st century. Adsorption-based processes may lead to one of the most efficient routes for removal of toxic substances, energy storage and bio-applications. The fundamental and great challenge is developing highly efficient adsorbents. In this regard, ordered mesoporous materials (OMMs) may be the answer in the future. They possess intrinsic high specific surface areas, regular and tunable pore sizes, large pore volumes, as well as stable and interconnected frameworks with active pore surfaces for modification or functionalization. Such features meet the requirements as excellent adsorbents, not only providing huge interface and large space capable of accommodating capacious guest species, but also enabling the possibility of specific binding, enrichment and separation. As a result, these materials have been extensively studied as advanced adsorbents and hundreds of papers have been published since the millennium. In this Highlight, we will mainly summarize and outlook the development in pollution control, gas storage and bioadsorption by using OMMs as adsorbents.     

Dilatometric measurements on carbon adsorbents

Conclusion The dilatometric changes of carbon adsorbents as a result of water vapor adsorption-desorption cycles are irreversible and depend on the temperature of the initial dehydration. After an adsorption-desorption cycle, the granules remain expanded if the evacuation is carried out at 293 K and are irreversibly compressed if the dehydration is carried out at 623 K.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 4, pp. 927–929, April, 1987.     

Bio-regeneration of p-complexation desulfurization adsorbents

More and more stringent regulations of gasoline and diesel oil were proposed with the awareness of environmental protection. Hydrodesulfurization (HDS) is a conventional method to remove sulfur compounds for industrial purpose. The main drawbacks of this …     

Surface energy of hydrophobic adsorbents

The adsorption of water vapor and the heat of wetting of hydrophilic hydromica and hydrophobized samples of kaolinite and Silochrom were studied. The contact angles for the wetting of the investigated materials with water were obtained. The thermodynamic characteristics of the surface of the sorbents and the interfacial region at their boundary with water were calculated from the obtained data. It was shown that the boundary water layers close to the hydrophilic surface of the hydromica are more ordered while those close to the hydrophobic surfaces of the modified samples of kaolinite, Silochrom, and the reference sample (extremely hydrophobic Teflon) are less ordered than liquid water. __________ Translated from Teoreticheskaya i éksperimental’naya Khimiya, Vol. 42, No. 2, pp. 87–91, March–April, 2006.     

Hydrothermal modification of carbon adsorbents

The effects of high-pressure autoclave treatments on porous structure and surface properties were studied for a variety of activated carbons (AC, synthetic and produced from plum stones) treated with water vapour, hydrogen peroxide (10–50%) or 10% aqueous ammonia solution at relatively low temperatures (250, 350, 400^○C). Surface and structural parameters of modified ACs were determined using nitrogen, water, ammonia and benzene adsorption isotherms. It was found that the effects of AC modification resulting in changes in their porous structure and surface chemistry depend on the kind of initial ACs, modifier type and concentration of modifier and treatment temperature. At the same conditions synthetic ACs are modified to a larger extent than ACs prepared using natural raw materials. Repeated treatment of a given carbon intensifies changes in its porous structure.     

Strontium binding properties of inorganic adsorbents

A comparison of strontium sorption on synthetic inorganic ion exchangers and zeolites from 0.01M CaCl₂ solution, sea water and an artificial foodstuff fluid has been carried out in batch and column experiments. It was found that some adsorbents among the groups manganese dioxides, mixed titanium-manganese oxides, antimony-based materials and synthetic zeolites had the highest selectivity to strontium (K _d >1000). These adsorbents are interesting for further investigation concerning their use for radiostrontium decontamination of foodstuffs (if nontoxic), as well as for analytical purposes.     

Iodine adsorption on silver-exchanged titania-derived adsorbents

I-129 is a hazardous fission product due to its long half life and ability to bioaccumulate. Silver mordenite has been studied for the removal of I-129 because of its hydrothermal stability arising from a high Si/Al ratio which subsequently limits its silver loading and iodine capacity. Titanosilicate ETS-10 and the sodium nanotitanate ETS-2 were exchanged to over 35 wt % silver and exposed to saturated iodine vapour at 80 °C under dry and humid conditions. The results indicate that the silver on these materials is reactive toward iodine and that the majority of the silver ions are utilized.     

Adsorption on nonporous and supermicroporous adsorbents

The mean values of the characteristic energy of C₆H₆ adsorption in large micropores were calculated from the adsorption isotherms of benzene vapor on carbon blacks. The supermicropores are characterized by the significant dispersion of the adsorption potential resulted from the pore-size distribution, which imparts the polymolecular character to adsorption. The effect of enhancement of the characteristic energy of adsorption was analyzed, which was caused by the overlap of the force fields of the opposite pore walls and the reduction of the adsorption film surface with micropore volume filling. The both factors are comparable by magnitude and depend on the micropore sizes.